ANAS National Museum of Azerbaijan Literature commemorated victims of 20 January.

Director of the museum, academician Rafael Huseynov delivered paper on “From Bloody Saturday to Independence”.

Academician said that, located at the intersection of the East and the West, Azerbaijan has been at the center of many political processes in the world over the past century. According to him, the dissolution of the USSR began in Azerbaijan and the events of January 20 accelerated this process.

Academician R.Huseynov, who witnessed the night from 19-20 January 1990, spoke about the tragic events committed by the former Soviet army, atrocities against the civilian population. He said that, the events of January 20 actually laid the foundation for Azerbaijan's independence. This became the cornerstone of Azerbaijan's struggle for the freedom of the nation.

It was noted that, on January 19, as the next stage of military operations, the power block of Azerbaijani television was blown up, the broadcasts of radio and television broadcasts of the republic were completely stopped, and on the day of the tragedy, the activities of other mass media were stopped, thereby depriving the people of the right to receive information.

Director of the museum stressed that, the first political assessment of the events was given by national leader Heydar Aliyev, at a meeting held on January 21, 1990 in Moscow, where H.Aliyev sharply criticized the leadership of the USSR.

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