[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E49-E50]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            OBSERVING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK JANUARY

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                           HON. STEVE CHABOT

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 16, 2020

  Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember the innocent 
lives lost in the massacre of Black January at the hands of the

[[Page E50]]

Soviet Union. January 20 marks the 30th anniversary of this tragic day 
in the history of Azerbaijan, which is seen as its rebirth as an 
independent country.
   26,000 Soviet troops attacked Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, 
and its surrounding areas on the night of January 20, 1990. This 
vicious invasion is fixed in Azerbaijan's national history and is 
remembered in the hearts of its people as ``Black January'' In the 
Soviet brutality, more than 145 innocent civilians died, around 800 
people were injured, and hundreds were arrested.
   The Soviet crackdown was meant to smother the independence movement 
in Azerbaijan which was gaining momentum at the time. It proved to be a 
futile attempt to prop up the rule of the Communist Party, and really 
the whole Soviet Union. In fact, it had the opposite effect, further 
inflaming the independence movement and strengthening other such 
movements throughout the former Soviet Union.
   Following the events of Black January, popular sentiment drove 
Azerbaijan to break away from the Soviet Union and declare 
independence. On August 30, 1991, Azerbaijan's Parliament adopted the 
Declaration on the Restoration of the State Independence of the 
Republic of Azerbaijan, and on October 18, 1991, the Constitutional Act 
on the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved.
   Azerbaijan began to receive international recognition of its 
newfound independence in November 1991, and shortly thereafter the 
United States became one of the first nations to recognize the country, 
establishing diplomatic relations on February 28, 1992. Today, 
cooperation between the U.S. and Azerbaijan has blossomed to include a 
broad range of issues, particularly energy development and security, 
and we share many common interests and goals for the region.
   I urge my colleagues to join me and the Azerbaijani people as they 
remember the events of Black January and celebrate that brutality 
cannot stifle the thirst for freedom.

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