[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E59-E60]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING THE 26TH ANNIVERSARY OF ``BLACK JANUARY''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 28, 2016

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 26th 
anniversary of ``Black January'' in Azerbaijan. Imbedded in the memory 
of all Azerbaijanis regardless of where they live, Black January 
commemorates Azerbaijan's stand against Soviet soldiers for 
independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity over all lands under 
Azerbaijani jurisdiction, and freedom from communism and dictatorship.
   On the evening of January 19, 1990, the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet 
Presidium backed by then-President Mikhail Gorbachev, declared a state 
of emergency in response to the growing national independence movement 
in Azerbaijan, which led to Russian troops storming the Azerbaijani 
capital city of Baku. In an attempt to suppress the movement and 
``restore order,'' Soviet invaders indiscriminately fired on peaceful 
demonstrators, including women and children. That night, more than 130 
people died, over 700 people were injured, 841 were arrested and 5 went 
missing.
   The invasion, however, focused not just on peaceful protestors but 
also on critical infrastructure and workers. According to a report by 
Human Rights Watch entitled Black January in Azerbaijan, ``among the 
most heinous violations of human rights during the Baku incursion were 
the numerous attacks on medical personnel, ambulances and even 
hospitals.'' Additionally, the attack was an act of intimidation for 
all then-Soviet countries with independence ambitions. The Human Rights

[[Page E60]]

Watch report concluded that, ``indeed the violence used by the Soviet 
Army on the night of January 19-20 constitutes an exercise in 
collective punishment. The punishment inflicted on Baku by Soviet 
soldiers may have been intended as a warning to nationalists, not only 
in Azerbaijan, but in other Republics of the Soviet Union.''
   Azerbaijani citizens, however, refused to succumb to Soviet 
aggression. Instead, the invasion inflamed Azerbaijani nationalism. In 
the days after the invasion, thousands of Azerbaijanis surrounded 
Communist Party headquarters demanding the resignation of the 
republic's leadership, the Baku City Council demanded that Soviet 
troops be withdrawn and the Soviet legislature in Azerbaijan threatened 
to call a referendum on secession unless Soviet troops were withdrawn 
within 48 hours.
   Soviet troops were eventually withdrawn and January 20th became 
known as ``the Day of the Nationwide Sorrow.'' It would not be for 
nearly two years, however, before Azerbaijan gained political control 
from the Soviet Union. In October 1991, Azerbaijan's parliament--the 
National Assembly--declared its independence.
   Today, Azerbaijan has developed into a thriving country with double 
digit growth, in large part due to a freely elected president and 
parliament, free market reforms led by the energy sector, and, most 
importantly, no foreign troops on its soil. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in recognizing the tragic events of Black January that precipitated 
the independent Republic of Azerbaijan and the fall of the USSR.

                          ____________________