20 January’ 1990 is a day, which went down in the history of the struggle for the freedom and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as a heroism page.
The January Massacre, also known as Black Saturday or the Black January, was a violent riot to suppress the Azerbaijani independence movement in Baku on Jan. 19-20, 1990. The Soviet Union declared a state of emergency using the excuse that pressure had been put on Armenians. Soviet tanks and troops then entered the city from several directions shortly before midnight. According to official figures, over 130 people were killed and more than 700 civilians injured. Thousands of people hung black strips of cloth from their apartments in protest of the Soviet invasion. Black January is seen as the end of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan and the birth of the Republic of Azerbaijan.