"The leaders of the republic at that time did not give political value to this fundamental and historically significant event. The political value was given to the January 20 tragedy only in 1994 with the initiative and efforts of the great leader Heydar Aliyev.”
This is what Adil Aliyev, the Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis, wrote in his article about January 20.
Fakt Yoxla examined whether the MP's claim was true.
On January 18, 1990, Abdurrahman Vazirov, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, resigned.
On January 25, 1990, Ayaz Mutallibov came to this position. At that time, Elmira Gafarova was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR.
The study is framed by the periods of power of the persons in question, taking into account the period covered by the claim.
On January 21, 1990, the extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR, called by the initiative of one-third of the deputies, began. The session was opened by Elmira Gafarova, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
During the opening, the deputies commemorated the victims of the tragic events in Baku on January 19-21, 1990 with a minute of silence. The session, which began on January 21, lasted all night and ended only in the early hours of January 22.
The incident, which resulted in the killing and wounding of hundreds of people in Baku by the troops of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Committee in Baku, was considered a clear violation of the sovereign rights of the Azerbaijan SSR. The events were called a crime against the people of Azerbaijan. The following decisions were made during this session:
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 19, 1990, on the state of emergency in Baku should be regarded as an aggression against the sovereignty of the Azerbaijan SSR, and the actions of the highest authorities of the USSR and high-ranking officials who ordered the execution of this decree, which caused mass slaughter in Baku and its surroundings, should be regarded as a crime against the people of Azerbaijan;
- The withdrawal of all troops and units from Baku should be demanded as soon as possible;
- In gross violation of Paragraph 14 of Article 119 of the Constitution of the USSR, as it was adopted without the consent of the higher authorities of the Azerbaijan SSR, according to Article 6 of the Constitutional Law on the Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan SSR, with the exception of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the border strips of neighboring districts with Armenia, the implementation of the decrees dated January 15 and 19, 1990, on the declaration of a state of emergency in the city of Baku and other districts of the Azerbaijan SSR should be suspended;
- The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR should be requested to immediately cancel the decree dated January 19, 1990, on the declaration of a state of emergency in the city of Baku and other districts of the republic and to order the withdrawal of the army units and military equipment from the city of Baku and those districts;
- A deputy commission should be formed, including representatives of public organizations, to find out the direct organizers and perpetrators of the bloody murder of the citizens of the Azerbaijan SSR in Baku and other districts of Azerbaijan;
- The Supreme Soviets of the allied republics and all the democratic governments of the world should be addressed with such a call to condemn these bitter acts of aggression and brutality, which resulted in the death of hundreds of people and are contrary to international law;
- If no positive response is received from the union bodies, the extraordinary session should continue its work. The discussion of the issue of the expediency of maintaining alliance relations between the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR should begin.
The decision was signed by Elmira Gafarova, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR, and Rafiga Gaziyeva, Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR signed a decision on the establishment of an investigative commission consisting of deputies. In the decision, it was stated that in order to reveal the organizers and perpetrators of the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people as a result of illegal actions by the troops of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Committee in Baku and other districts of Azerbaijan, a deputy commission should be formed, including representatives of the public. The commission included 21 people in total. This decision was signed by Elmira Gafarova and Rafiga Gaziyeva.
On February 11, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR discussed the statement of the investigative commission and signed a decision.
In that decision, it was stated that criminal cases should be opened and an investigation should be conducted against the persons responsible for the deaths of people in the city of Baku on January 19-20, 1990. This decision was signed by Elmira Gafarova and Rafiga Gaziyeva.
On January 13, 1992, the Law on Establishing the Honorary Title of the Republic of Azerbaijan "Fighter for Freedom" was signed. In the law, it was decided to award the honorary title "Fighter for Freedom" to citizens killed and injured during the events of January 20. This law was signed by Ayaz Mutallibov, who was the President of Azerbaijan at that time.
On January 19, 1992, the investigative commission created to investigate the events of January 20 reported the results of the case to the National Council of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
According to the report, 131 civilians were killed, 744 people were injured, hundreds of people were arrested illegally, and state property and public and private property were severely damaged.
"The commission received more than 2,000 letters and complaints from citizens, hundreds of verbal reports, approximately 2,500 people were interrogated, more than 250 crime scenes and objects were examined, 286 ballistic, auto-technical, commercial, engineering-technical expertise were conducted. Acts on the forensic examination of corpses, as well as opinions of independent military experts, were obtained, and a large amount of audio and video materials were collected and studied. 2,517 information requests were sent to various state, economic, and law enforcement agencies, as well as public organizations and military departments of the former USSR and the republic. All this proves that the commission, which has collected materials of historical importance, has done a great job," said the decision of the National Council of Supreme Soviet dated January 19, 1992.
The decision also reflected the appeal to the world parliaments and the UN regarding the incident.
Furthermore, the decision stated that investigations should be continued, an investigative-operational team should be created, the legality of cases of detention and arrest of people, bringing them to criminal and administrative responsibility, and suspending the activities of public organizations due to their political activity and in connection with the application of the state of emergency in Baku city should be checked, and appropriate measures should be taken based on the results of the check. This decision was signed by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Elmira Gafarova.
On that day, the National Council of the Supreme Soviet adopted another decision regarding the work done by the investigative commission. In the decision, the results of the investigation commission clarifying the details of the events of January 20 were highly appreciated and the names of the members of the commission were mentioned and thanked. This decision was also signed by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Elmira Gafarova.
As for giving political value to the events of January 20 with the initiative and efforts of Heydar Aliyev, the decision of the Milli Majlis on the tragic events committed in Baku on January 20, 1990, signed on March 29, 1994, assessed the events that took place in Baku as military aggression and crime.
Thus, in the following decisions signed by Elmira Gafarova, who was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet at that time, a political value was given to the events of January 20:
- The Decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR on canceling the state of emergency in Baku and the Decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR on the establishment of an investigative commission consisting of deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR dated January 22, 1990;
- The Decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR on the statement of the investigative commission of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR dated February 11, 1990;
- The Decision of the National Council of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the conclusions of the work of the commission of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the investigation of the details and causes of the tragic events related to the landing of troops into the city of Baku on January 19-20, 1992, and the Decision of the National Council of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan to reward the members of the investigative commission of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the investigation of the details and causes of the tragic events related to the landing of troops into Baku on the night of January 19-20, 1990.
Political value was given to the events of January 20 in the Law on Establishing the Honorary Title of the Republic of Azerbaijan "Freedom Fighter" signed by Ayaz Mutallibov on January 13, 1992.
In these documents, it was emphasized that the events committed on January 20 were aggression and crime against Azerbaijan.
In the law signed by Ayaz Mutallibov, it was mentioned that hundreds of civilians were killed during the events of January 20. These facts prove that the people who led the country at that time gave political value to the events.
On March 29, 1994, the Decision of the Milli Majlis on the tragic events committed in Baku on January 20, 1990, was signed by the then Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Rasul Guliyev. This decision was taken during the reign of former President Heydar Aliyev.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that Adil Aliyev's claim is False.
