The participants of the ceremony paid tribute to the Black January martyrs with a minute of silence.
Addressing the event, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles briefed the participants about the bloody January events, noting that a large number of innocent people were brutally killed by the Soviet troops.

On January 20, 26,000 strong Soviet troops entered the Azerbaijani capital Baku from several directions, invading the city in a desperate, brutal and yet futile attempt to strangle a growing independence movement, to prevent the fall of the Soviet Communist regime in Azerbaijan and to punish ordinary people who had rallied on the streets to voice their legitimate protest against the violation of their homeland’s territorial integrity.

Aghayev also noted that Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev sharply condemned the massacre after the tragedy and this encouraged the Azerbaijani people in their struggle for freedom.
He also said though the Soviet regime aimed to suppress Azerbaijani people’s wishes of freedom, the regime couldn’t reach its goal and Azerbaijan restored its independence.

Stressing that Azerbaijan has rapidly developed since the restoration of independence, Aghayev said the country’s political and economic positions on regional, as well as global level have strengthened and become irreversible.

Speaking at the event, Professor James Coyle from University of California San Diego highlighting the historical importance of the Black January and said it laid the foundation for collapse of the USSR.
Nancy Pearlman, a journalist from Los-Angeles said a few months before the bloody events he visited Baku and felt that the situation in the city was tense.

After the speeches, the plaintive music of classic musicians were masterfully performed by Ruslan Biryukov (cello) from Azerbaijan and Irina Tseitlin (violin) .

The event participants got acquainted with a photo exhibition dedicated to the Black January tragedy.