Arizona State Senate issues a statement on the Black January tragedy

The State Senate of the U.S. State of Arizona issued a statement on the 24th death anniversary of Mr. Vidadi Uzeyir oglu Mammadov, who was killed on January 20, 1990, when the Soviet army committed a massacre against Azerbaijani civilians in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event is known in Azerbaijan and beyond as the Black January tragedy.

Signed by the Senate President Andy Biggs on January 30, 2014, the statement was authored by Senator Don Shooter, Chairman of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee.

It should be noted that during his trip to Azerbaijan in November 2013, Senator Shooter met Mr. Mammadov’s brother in the city of Shamakhy and was profoundly informed about the Black January tragedy.

The statement says: “In what is now called Martyr’s Day, 26,000 Soviet troops attempted to crush the Azerbaijan independence movement that Mammadov was a part of. As many heroes have done over the course of history, Mammadov gave his life in the name of freedom. His sacrifice embodies man’s quest to be free. This Senate, and the people of the great state of Arizona, share the same freedom-loving ideals as the people of Azerbaijan and honor the sacrifice made by Mammadov and the freedom-loving patriots of Azerbaijan.”