Written declaration | Doc. 11499 | 21 January 2008

Massacre of Azerbaijanis by Soviet troops

Signatories: Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Ruhi AÇIKGÖZ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Levan BERDZENISHVILI, Georgia ; Mr Márton BRAUN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Ingrida CIRCENE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr José FREIRE ANTUNES, Portugal ; Ms Gultakin HAJIBAYLI, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr András KELEMEN, Hungary ; Mr Ertuğrul KUMCUOĞLU, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Anna LILLIEHÖÖK, Sweden ; Mr Göran LINDBLAD, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Nino NAKASHIDZÉ, Georgia ; Mr Kent OLSSON, Sweden ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Rainder STEENBLOCK, Germany ; Mr Mehmet TEKELİOĞLU, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Elene TEVDORADZE, Georgia ; Mr Tuğrul TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Özlem TÜRKÖNE, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Mustafa ÜNAL, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The undersigned, members of the Assembly, make the following declaration:

1. Independence movements occupy a very special place in the history of the European countries.

2. Many nations fought for independence, but events which took place in the geographic area known as the socialist bloc are unprecedented in their scope and brutality of response.

3. Azerbaijanis paused this weekend to pay tribute to their fellow citizens who were killed in one of the most brutal acts in the last moments of the Soviet Empire, an event known around the world as “Black January”.

4. Black January occurred when Moscow ordered 26 000 Soviet troops to invade Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. In the early morning hours and into the day of 20 January 1990, Soviet troops attacked innocent civilians, slaughtering 133 people and wounding approximately 700. The use of force by the Soviet regime was a response to Azerbaijan’s popular demand for independence.

5. According to a report published by Human Rights Watch, “among the most heinous violations of human rights … were the numerous attacks on medical personnel, ambulances and even hospitals”.