20 January, day of mourning, day of martyrs

Taking you back twenty years ago. Azerbaijan is still part of the USSR, despite the crumbling of that ‘great’ empire. In its own back yard, problems are increasing. Nagorno Karabagh is more than just simmering, leading to unrest in the rest of the country. Armenians are targeted, whether in reaction to the conflict elsewhere, deliberately provoked by USSR secret service or because of general boredom I am unable to say. Either way, Armenians are targeted in Sumgayit, hoisted out and several slain. And despite Sumgayit being Sumgayit and not Baku, and this event being well over a week before the 20^th of January 1990, peace-nobel-price-winner Gorbachev sends the Red Army to Baku. His order: to restore the peace and quiet, and stop the severe disturbances in which several Armenians have died.

Naturally, restoring a place to tranquility is to be done by hard and complete random force. And that men, women and children and killed in the process, that the streets see red of blood, that citizens blockaded the port to prevent corpses being taken out and dumped at sea is only a logical consequence. The official price tag of restoring tranquility: 132 dead and 67 wounded. No mentioning of infrastructural damage, or psychological damage.

Below, the link to a short, distant BBC report, some days later:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/22/newsid_4099000/4099647.stm

Today, 20 January is remembered as the day of Morning. It is a free day, on which thousands of Azerbaijani’s flock up to Martyr’s Lane, Shəhidlər Xiyabanıə, with red carnations in their hand. This ‘Lane’ was once the a Soviet park, and now serves as a memorial to those fallen on 20 January, and also victims of the Karabagh conflict.

The memorial was only accessible in one direction, and no car could come near. Busses with police were used to make the road pedestrian only. As we neared the actual site, the number of people grew thick. Bleeding candles were made of flowers, music was playing in the background. You could not simply walk on, and pass the graves commemorating the fallen. You and thousands of others would walk some metres, then stop and wait, then walk again.

Azerbaijanies are a stylish people. They like to dress in dark colours, predominantly wearing black cloths. The contrast with the red carnations was simply beautiful. The number of flowers astonishing, the staring glances and questioning whether we are Russians, disquieting, and allowance to take pictures of the police a pleasant surprise.

I have been told that for each person who got injured or killed, an official file has been made. Most of these files have been sent to the Bureau in Russia, investigating claims against the Red Army. Thus far, not one has gotten back.

Below pictures of the commemoration in the '20 Januar' metro station.