Turkish Defence Ministry commemorates victims of January 20 tragedy on 35th anniversary

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence marked the 35th anniversary of the tragic January 20 events by honoring the memory of the victims.

In a post shared on social media platforms, the Ministry expressed its deep respect for those who lost their lives during the tragic incident, Caliber.Az reports.

🗓️ 20 Ocak 1990

Kardeş Azerbaycan’da yaşanan ve “#KaraOcak” olarak bilinen katliamda şehit edilen kardeşlerimizi rahmetle anıyoruz.

İyi günde de kötü günde de “Tek millet, iki devlet” olarak Azerbaycan Türkü kardeşlerimizle bir ve beraber olmaya devam edeceğiz. 🇹🇷🇦🇿… pic.twitter.com/1V3HRZeSwf

— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) January 20, 2025

"With mercy, we honor the memory of our brothers who were killed in the tragic events of black January. We will continue to maintain unity with our Azerbaijani brethren, both in brighter and harder days, adhering to the principle of 'one nation, two states.' We have not forgotten, nor will we ever forget," the post by the ministry reads.

On the night of January 19-20, 1990, under orders from the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, military units from the Ministry of Defence, the KGB, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR were deployed to Baku and several regions of Azerbaijan. They carried out brutal crackdowns on the civilian population, resulting in hundreds of deaths, injuries, and disappearances.

Before the declaration of a state of emergency was announced to the public, military forces ruthlessly killed 82 people and fatally wounded 20 others. In the days following the state of emergency in Baku, 21 more people were killed. Additionally, in regions where no state of emergency was declared, eight individuals lost their lives—on January 25 in Neftchala and January 26 in Lankaran.

In total, the unlawful deployment of troops in Baku and other regions claimed the lives of 147 people and left 744 others injured.

By Vafa Guliyeva