Azernews.Az

The road traffic in Azerbaijan was stopped in the afternoon for one minute in memory of the victims of the January 20 tragedy, Azernews reports.

Ships in Baku Bay, cars on the roads, and trains honked in memory of the victims of the bloody events.

State flags are flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning.

The memory of the martyrs on January 20 was honored at the Koroglu Transport Exchange Center by a minute of silence. The Baku Transport Agency stopped the movement of buses, which honked.

On January 20, 1990, 40,000 strong Soviet troops entered the Azerbaijani capital Baku from several directions, invading the city in a desperate, brutal, and yet futile attempt to strangle the growing independence movement and to prevent the fall of the Soviet communist regime in Azerbaijan and punish ordinary people who had rallied on the streets to voice their legitimate protest against the violation of their homeland's territorial integrity.

Some 137 people were killed, 611 were wounded, 841 were illegally arrested, and five went missing as a result of the intrusion of troops into Baku and other regions of the country.

January 20, 1990, is marked in the modern history of Azerbaijan as one of the most tragic days of the country, and at the same time as a heroic page.

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