[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 11 (Friday, January 17, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E58]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMEMORATING ``BLACK JANUARY''

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 17, 2020

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 30th 
anniversary of the ``Black January'' killings which is one of the most 
tragic events in Azerbaijan's history.
  On the night of January 20, 1990, approximately 26,000 Soviet troops 
stormed Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku in tanks and armored 
vehicles. That night, the Soviet military bulldozed innocent 
Azerbaijanis and opened fire indiscriminately on peaceful 
demonstrators, including women and children. As a result of these 
merciless acts 147 people were killed, around 800 were injured, 841 
were arrested, and 5 went missing.
  The Human Rights Watch report ``Black January in Azerbaijan'' states 
that ``among the most heinous violations of human rights during the 
Baku incursion were the numerous attacks on medical personnel, 
ambulances, and even hospitals.'' The report concludes that the 
violence used by the Soviet Army constituted an exercise in collective 
punishment and that 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. I offer my 
thoughts and prayers to the families of those who gave their lives for 
the independence of Azerbaijan.
  The United States was one of the first countries to recognize 
independence and fully established diplomatic relations on February 28, 
1992 and the relationship between our two countries endures to this 
day. The United States and Azerbaijan are strategic allies and share 
common interests in the region and globally.
  As the co-chairman of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, I urge my 
colleagues to recognize the sacrifices of the Azerbaijani people in 
their steps toward a free market economy and encourage a recommitment 
to the democratic values for which many Azerbaijanis sacrificed their 
lives.

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