[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E79]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E79]]



                       REMEMBERING BLACK JANUARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 20, 2015

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, as the Co-Chairman of the Congressional 
Azerbaijan Caucus, I want to honor the people of Azerbaijan by 
recognizing the tragic events of 1990 commonly referred to as ``Black 
January.''
  Twenty-four years ago yesterday, approximately 26,000 heavily armored 
Soviet soldiers poured into Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku and, with 
total indifference to human life, launched an assault on a crowd of 
peaceful demonstrators. Ultimately 131 civilians were killed by the 
aggressing Soviets. In addition, over 600 were injured, 841 arrested, 
and 5 went missing.
  The Human Rights Watch report ``Black January in Azerbaijan'' 
described the Soviet's approach as though they were attacking ``an 
enemy position intended for military destruction.'' It states Soviet 
soldiers fired on clearly marked ambulances, crushed civilians with 
armored tanks, and used both automatic weapons and bayonets on the 
civilian population. Many believe that the destruction inflicted on 
Baku was a warning to other Republics of the Soviet Union in an attempt 
to stop the dissolution of Communist rule.
  Ultimately, the atrocities of Black January united Azerbaijan like 
never before. The brutal show of force erased any residual hope for a 
reformed Soviet Union, such that Azerbaijan declared its independence 
twenty months later.
  I thank the Azerbaijan people for their continued friendship with the 
United States and extend my deepest sympathies to the family and 
friends of those who lost their lives for the independence of 
Azerbaijan.

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