Türkiye's Speaker: 20 January martyrs' courage to live on as Azerbaijan’s independence symbol

The courage of the 20 January martyrs will forever remain in memory as one of the strongest demonstrations of the Azerbaijani people’s will for independence, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Numan Kurtulmuş, said in his post on social network X.

He emphasised that Azerbaijan and Türkiye will always stand together, Caliber.Az reports.

20 Yanvar şehidlerini rahmetle ve saygıyla anıyoruz. Onların fedakârlığı, Azerbaycan halkının bağımsızlık iradesinin en güçlü göstergelerinden biri olarak hafızalardaki yerini ebediyen koruyacaktır.

Kardeş Azerbaycan’la sevincinde ve kederinde daima “iki devlet, tek millet”… pic.twitter.com/YBsDkSm2gW

— Numan Kurtulmuş (@NumanKurtulmus) January 20, 2026

“We deeply honor the memory of the January 20 martyrs. Their courage will forever remain in memory as one of the strongest demonstrations of the Azerbaijani people’s will for independence. We will continue to stand firmly shoulder to shoulder with our brotherly Azerbaijan, in joy and in sorrow, under the motto ‘one nation, two states,’” Kurtulmuş said.

On the night of January 19-20, 1990, under direct orders from Mikhail Gorbachev, the then-General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, military units from the USSR Ministry of Defense, State Security Committee, and Ministry of Internal Affairs entered Baku and surrounding regions. These forces launched a violent crackdown on the civilian population, using heavy military equipment and various forms of weaponry. Special and internal Soviet troops displayed extraordinary brutality, killing 82 civilians and wounding 20 others before a curfew was imposed.

Even after the curfew, the violence continued. Over the following days, 21 more civilians were killed in Baku, and 8 additional civilians were murdered in regions where the curfew was not in place—Neftchala on January 25 and Lankaran on January 26.

The final toll from this tragic event was 131 civilians killed and 744 others injured across Baku and nearby regions. The victims included women, children, the elderly, medical personnel, and police officers. Mass arrests were also carried out during and after the military intervention, with 841 civilians detained in Baku and other cities. Among them, 112 individuals were sent to prisons in different Soviet cities.

The Soviet forces not only killed and wounded civilians but also destroyed property. They fired on 200 homes, 80 cars, and set fire to numerous public and private structures, including ambulances.

The atrocities committed by the Soviet troops bore a chilling resemblance to the war crimes condemned at the Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1946. The victims of these tragic events are honored as the “20 January martyrs.” A total of 150 individuals are remembered as martyrs in Azerbaijan, symbolizing the resilience and enduring spirit of the Azerbaijani people in the face of brutal oppression.

By Khagan Isayev