One of Authors of January 20 Tragedy Yevgeny Primakov Dead

Today in Moscow died a former Soviet and party activist Yevgeny Primakov.

In the memory of the Azerbaijani people, he remained as the author of the January tragedy in 1990, one of the leaders of the national liberation movement of that period, Etibar Mammadov told Turan.

"During a meeting with us in January 1990, Primakov vowed the grave of his son that the troops will not be introduced to Baku. But he lied to us. Later, Gorbachev acknowledged that it was Primakov who demanded troops entered Baku," said Etibar Mammadov.

Another leader of the National Movement Rahim Gaziyev, noted Primakov’s role not only in the January tragedy, but also in the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, the fall of the government of the Popular Front in 1993 and the establishment of an authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan.

Recall that in the beginning of 1990, Primakov led a delegation of party and state leaders of the USSR, who arrived in Baku to save the Communist regime. Unable to convince the supporters of independence to abandon their course, the envoys of the Kremlin brought troops and occupied Baku and several regions of the country, with 134 civilians killed and more than 700 wounded and dozens missing.

After the invasion, Primakov tried to convince the country's spiritual leader, Sheikh Pashazadeh to become the President of Azerbaijan and urge the public to reconciliation with Moscow.

Efforts of Primakov and his team failed and the Soviet power in Azerbaijan was kept 1.5 years because of the state of emergency and the Russian bayonets. -03 / 02B-