20 January, Day of National Mourning

On the night of 19–20 January 1990 Soviet troops entered Baku before a state of emergency had even been announced. According to official figures, 147 civilians were killed and 744 wounded. It was one of the heaviest sacrifices the Azerbaijani people made on the road to freedom and independence.

The next day, 21 January, Heydar Aliyev came to Azerbaijan's permanent mission in Moscow and publicly condemned the bloody crackdown. In 1994 the National Assembly gave the events a political and legal assessment.

How the day is marked

Every year on 20 January hundreds of thousands of people visit the Alley of Martyrs and lay carnations on the graves. At midday the whole country observes a minute of silence: traffic stops and ships and cars sound their horns. The day is a Day of National Mourning in Azerbaijan.