Azerbaijanis, Koreans refresh memory of Azerbaijani Tragedy

The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Korea hosted a prayer meeting at the Penthouse of the Hanam Tower Building in Seoul on Jan. 19, 2015 in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 20 January 1990 Tragedy in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.

Dozens of guests attended the meeting, including Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post, Director Kwon Sang-Hee of Halla Corporation for Overseas Business Department and Professor Song Byoung-Jun of Soon Chun Hyang University. There also were many active members of the Azerbaijan-Korea Student Association (BUTA), the representatives of Korean companies and organizations operating in Azerbaijan as well as representatives of the local.

The event started with a moment of silence in honor the memory of the victims of the 20 January tragedy.
Opening the ceremony, Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan informed guests about the main causes of the bloody January tragedy when the Soviet troops had committed a massacre against civilian Azerbaijanis, who took to the street for their independence and territorial integrity. Ambassador Teymurov called the tragedy one of the bloodiest crimes of the Soviet empire against the citizens of Azerbaijan. He drew the participants' attention to the fact that the Soviet troops had used internationally prohibited weapons in Baku, and slaughtered women, children and senior citizens. The envoy also spoke of the Azerbaijani government’s attention to families of those who had been killed in the tragic events.
At the same time, Ambassador Teymurov emphasized that the crime committed by the Soviet army was in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and other international legal instruments on human rights.

The event provided an insight into the events that led to and followed the tragedy, including national leader Heydar Aliyev's coming to Azerbaijani representation in Moscow immediately after the massacre where he strongly condemned the perpetrators of the crime and demanded their punishment.
Then the ceremony featured demonstration of documentary film about the 20 January tragedy, and the participants viewed a photo exhibition.
On display at the entrance of the conference hall were many copies of the January 2015 issue of The Korea Post magazinewhere an article on "The 25th anniversary of the Black January of Azerbaijan" was published. Many guests took a copy each to learn more about the tragedy.

저작권자 © The Korea Post 무단전재 및 재배포 금지