Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Farhadov on Saturday said that the world community should condemn the brutality of oppressor states and support the liberation struggle of oppressed people and their right to self-determination, under the international law.
The ambassador made these remarks while paying tributes to the martyrs of the Black January massacre by Soviet troops in Azerbaijan during a remembrance session ‘The National Will and Determination of Azerbaijani People: Commemorating January 20, 1990’, arranged by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
“The martyrs of January 20, 1990, are never to be forgotten as they paved the way for Azerbaijan’s liberation and sacrificed their lives for the territorial integrity, freedom, national identity, and sovereignty that Azerbaijan today enjoys,” said Khazar Farhadov.
Commemorating the memory of the sacrifices of his compatriots who were subjected to violence, he apprised the audience, “January 20, 1990, marks a terrible tragedy, known as Black January, in the history of Azerbaijan.”
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“Thousands of Soviet troops invaded Baku, brutally killed around 150 unarmed civilians, including children, women, and elderly people, injured hundreds of peaceful people, and unlawfully imprisoned around 800 people in one night,” he said as he recalled what happened on this day.
He further said that around one million Azerbaijanis gathered in the streets in an unmatched act of solidarity and for 40 days continued the patriotic war. “After only one and a half year, Azerbaijan regained its independence as the Republic of Azerbaijan”, the envoy added.
“Unfortunately, there are many similarities between this degree of aggression and today’s world where acts of violent extremism and terrorism motivated by hatred are at work to crush the freedom struggle and resistance of oppressed people, like the Kashmiris and the Palestinians,” noted the speakers.
Chairman IPS, Khalid Rahman termed the martyrs of Black January “a source of inspiration for all the people fighting for liberation and self-determination.” He highlighted that Pakistan and Azerbaijan must strengthen support for Kashmir cause.
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“Both the countries should enhance their cultural, geopolitical, religious, and diplomatic relations through various channels at regional as well as international level”, he said.