Today, a solemn event dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of January 20 tragedy was held at the Institute of Chemistry of Additives of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. First, the participants of the event honored the memory of the martyrs of January 20 and the Karabakh war with a minute of silence.
In his opening speech, the Director General of the Institute, Academician Vagif Farzaliyev, noted that although bloody and tragic events took place in the history of the USSR in many of the 15 republics that were part of the USSR, the most terrible of them was the massacre against innocent people in Azerbaijan on January 20, 1990. This act became the gravest crime committed against humanity, at the same time this day became significant in the glorious and heroic history of our people. According to him, the killings of civilians who fought for their freedom, the killings of hundreds of innocent people, the wounding and disappearance of thousands of people once again demonstrated the criminal nature of the totalitarian Soviet regime to the whole world.
The scientist noted that innocent people – schoolchildren, students, teachers, scientists and other prominent people of our country – died in the bloody events: “Despite the fact that 3-4 days had passed since the massacre, among the dead on January 24 there were selfless Azerbaijani chemists and professors – Ibrahim Ibrahimov, Ismail Mursagulov and Svetlana Mammadova, other scientists Idris Akhmedov and Parlag Mammadova were seriously injured. Perhaps this is a historical coincidence that Professor Idris Akhmedov, who was the leading researcher of our institute, died in 3 years, on January 20, 2019. Undoubtedly, his death was caused by the physical injuries he received at that time and, most importantly, mental shocks.
Speaking on the topic “January 20, the tragic and heroic history of the Azerbaijani people”, the chairman of the Institute Trade Union Organization, Associate Professor Elkhan Isakov said that January 20 is not only a tragedy, but also the first peak on the path of Azerbaijan’s independence, the day of awakening, striving for our freedom national ideology: “2020, under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, in 44 days, our victorious army, which brought us victory by liberating Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions, which were under Armenian occupation for almost 30 years, completed what was laid down on January 20, 1990. For the first time, our martyrs were avenged, and today we were able to visit the Alley of Martyrs with open faces.”
Gunay Ismayilova, Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of the Institute, in her speech stressed that today the Alley of Martyrs had become a holy place of oath and a shrine for every citizen of Azerbaijan: “Every year on January 20, thousands of people, including us, young people, visit the Alley Martyrs to honor the memory of our sons and daughters who died for the freedom and sovereignty of the Motherland. Therefore, despite the change of generations, the memory of the sons of the Motherland will live forever in our hearts.”
The event was also attended by the leading researcher, Ph.D. Nusrat Aliyev and Head of the Civil Defense Staff of the Institute Huseyn Dunyamaliev.They shared their memories of the January 20 tragedy. Then, photographs and video presentations were shown, depicting the horrors of that terrible night that happened on the night of January 20th.
