Black January was a honorable page in the history of Azerbaijan, said deputy head mission Mr. Vasif Aliyev from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in his Embassy briefing regarding Black January held last week in a downtown hotel central Seoul and on the occasion of the publication about Azerbaijan poet Bextiyar Vahabzade’s poems’s tranlastion into Korean language.

According to the Embassy of Azerbaijan, even former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev told that Black January was the most blunder in his politic career. In that regard, Azerbaijan Amb. Ramzi Teymurov pointed out by his welcome speech that Black January served for Azerbaijan peoples as an opportunity to awaken its national identity.

Through its briefing, the Embassy of Azerbaijan briefed: “On 20 January 1990 the Central Soviet Authorities perpetrated an atrocious crime against Azerbaijani people. On that day the Soviet Army stormed Baku – capital of Azerbaijan to punish people rallied on the streets protesting against violations of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Special Soviet troops using heavy offensive weapons, including tanks and armored vehicles, occupied a city.

As a result of punitive actions 147 civilians were killed and around 800 wounded, hundreds of people were arrested and subjected to various forms of physical pressure. Among victims were a 7-year old boy, a 16-year old girl, an 80-year old man, a young doctor shot in ambulance while helping another victim, and many other civilians of different nationalities of Baku. This massacre entered the history of Azerbaijan as the ‘Black January’.”

On the other hand, through its publication about Gueluestan poems, translater Prof. Oh Eun-kyung who serves as prof. of Dongdeok women’s university said she sincerely hopes for the relations of the two countries to approach more closer with the publication of Azerbaijan poet’s poems’ translation into Korean language. She said she captured to translate it into Korean language with strong recommendation from Azerbaijan Amb. Ramzi Teymurov.