January 20 - Chronicle of honor and heroism of our people

"The tragedy of January 20 will never be erased from the memory of the Azerbaijani people. Soul of our martyrs will always live, their valuable memory will live forever in the hearts of the Azerbaijani people. I once again offer my condolences to all the people who lost loved ones on that terrible day

The souls of our martyrs will and must live forever.

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Throughout history, our people have been subjected to tragedies and genocides from time to time. Most of these tragedies took place in the twentieth century. Although our people suffered losses in the struggle for their freedom in those terrible tragedies, finally, after the massacre of January 20, 1990, they regained their freedom and independence.

January 20 should not be remembered only as a tragedy. Because this is one of the glorious pages of our people's struggle for freedom. As President Ilham Aliyev said, January 20 is our great tragedy, but also a heroic page in the history of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani people have shown their will. Since then, Azerbaijan has entered a completely new stage. After the return of national leader Heydar Aliyev to power in 1993, the tragedy of January 1990 was given a political and legal assessment at the state level. The decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated January 5, 1994 "On holding the 4th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy" was signed.

As a continuation of the Great Leader's political course to perpetuate the names of the martyrs of January 20 and take care of their families, President Ilham Aliyev has taken and continues to take important measures in this direction.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we were in a very difficult situation economically and at the same time, as a result of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, our lands were occupied. Nevertheless, we overcame all the difficulties. Today, our country is the fastest growing country in the world. Azerbaijan has proved that it is successfully developing as an independent, free country based on the will of its people.

The memory of the people who sacrificed their life in the struggle for freedom is always held in high esteem and respected by our compatriots living both in our republic and abroad.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which the world's top-ranked organizations have not been able to resolve for 30 years, was ended in 44 days thanks to the leadership of President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and the strength of our brave army. The blood of our martyrs did not remain on the ground.

The Azerbaijani Army liberated our occupied territories and united Azerbaijan.