An event was held in Ganja Medical College in connection with the 32nd anniversary of the January 20 tragedy.

First, the memory of the victims of "January 20" tragedy was commemorated with a minute of silence.

The event was opened by Mehman Rzayev, director of Ganja Medical College. In his speech, Mehman Rzayev spoke about the "bloody terror committed by the Soviet military units in Azerbaijan on the night of January 19-20, 1990 to break the will of our people on the instructions of the former USSR leadership."

He emphasized that the "January 20" tragedy written in blood in our history will never be forgotten. Mehman Rzayev said that this date was the first peak of Azerbaijan's path to independence, the awakening of the desire for freedom of our national ideology. January 20, 1990 is a glorious date when the people living under the Soviet empire for many years raised their voice for freedom and showed courage for their sovereignty. Although the Soviet empire shed the blood of innocent people and committed unprecedented cruelty against our people, it could not achieve its wish and break our national pride.

Mehman Rzayev emphasized that one day after the tragedy, on January 21, 1990, our national leader Heydar Aliyev with his family members came to the permanent representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow with great courage and a sense of commitment to his people and made a statement strongly condemning the terrible crime committed by the Soviet leadership against our people. In the decision adopted on March 29, 1994 with the recommendation of the great leader, the tragedy of January 20 was given a full political and legal assessment at the state level for the first time.

In June 1993, by the order of national leader Heydar Aliyev, who returned to the leadership of the republic by the will of the people, all the graves of martyrs were removed, and a memorial complex was erected in Shahidler Khiyaban. By the order of President Ilham Aliyev, Martyrs' Alley was reconstructed at a high level as a single complex, and a memorial monument complex was created in memory of the victims of the January 20 tragedy in Baku.

The tragedy of January 20, 1990 was engraved in the history of Azerbaijan not only as a day of tragedy, but also as a proof of our nation's independence determination and unshakable will, a path leading to the restoration of state independence, and a day of national pride. The great leader Heydar Aliyev declared: "January 20 is an example of the heroism of the Azerbaijani people for the sake of national freedom and defending their identity."

Even though our people were martyrs in those events, they created a glorious history of heroism, made of the indomitable will of the brave sons of the motherland, the indomitability of the national spirit, and the determination for independence. The soul of the martyrs of January 20 is happy, because today our state independence is getting stronger every year in reliable hands. The brave Azerbaijani Army, under the leadership of the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, freed our native lands from the occupation of Armenia, now the Azerbaijani flag is flying in those territories, and life is reviving with great construction and reconstruction works.

At the end, a video dedicated to the memory of "January 20" martyrs was shown, various compositions and poems staged with the participation of students were presented.