Azerbaijani public calls on Nobel Committee to deprive Gorbachev of

Azerbaijani public calls on Nobel Committee to deprive Gorbachev of Nobel Peace Prize

13:31 18 January 2025 Read: 401

Representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society, public activists, family members of the January 20 martyrs, and veterans of January 20 have addressed an open letter to the Chairman and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, AzVision.az reports.

The letter reads: “Dear Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mr. Jørgen Watne Frydnes,

Dear members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mr. Asle Toje, Ms. Anne Enger, Ms. Kristin Clemet, and Ms. Gry Larsen,

We, representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society, family members of the January 20 martyrs, veterans of January 20, and public activists, are appealing to you regarding Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in October 1990.

The fact that Mikhail Gorbachev still holds the title of Nobel Peace Prize laureate is the greatest injustice in the history of this award. We ask you to remove this black spot, eliminate the injustice committed against the Azerbaijani people, and deprive Mikhail Gorbachev of this award.

Every year, the people of Azerbaijan mark the anniversary of the mass murder of a total of 150 people as a result of the deployment of Soviet troops to Baku and several regions of Azerbaijan on the night of January 19-20, 1990, and the use of military equipment and various types of weapons against the civilian population. People curse the executioner Mikhail Gorbachev and express their utmost hatred for the perpetrators of this tragedy. Mikhail Gorbachev personally gave the order to deploy troops to Baku, against the civilian population, and bears direct responsibility for the mass murders. The bloody trail of this crime is indelible.

There are sufficient legal grounds for bringing the perpetrators of the January 20 tragedy to justice. This tragedy is, first and foremost, a violation of the requirements of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international legal documents and conventions. The January 20 tragedy is a crime against humanity, during which peaceful people were killed, injured, kidnapped, and tortured. A historical crime was committed against an entire nation.

The January 20 massacre was a premeditated state crime which was intended to stifle the struggle for freedom and independence of the Azerbaijani people, who protested against the unjust policies of the USSR. This mass murder stands on the same level as the bloody events against the Soviet regime in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

We can say with great pain at heart that it is just as painful for us as the grief of January 20 itself that it was precisely after this massacre that the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Mikhail Gorbachev, whose hands were soaked in the blood of the Azerbaijani people.

For many years, the Azerbaijani public has not lost faith that this injustice will one day be eliminated.

This heinous crime, committed on the orders of Mikhail Gorbachev, could not break the determination of the Azerbaijani people, and a year later, Azerbaijan regained its state independence.

The Nobel brothers left an exceptional mark in the history of Azerbaijan. However, we regret to say that the prize, of which Baku was an important part for Nobel, was awarded to Mikhail Gorbachev, who is responsible for the bloodshed of the Azerbaijani people.

Your decision to deprive Mikhail Gorbachev of his prize would strengthen the world community's faith in justice and the moral authority of the Nobel Peace Prize. There is a great need for that.

We do hope that you will not turn a blind eye to the insult to Nobel values and restore historical justice by signing a decision to deprive Mikhail Gorbachev, who has earned the deep hatred of the Azerbaijani people, as well as other peoples of the former Soviet Union, of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sincerely,

Ramil Iskandarli - Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum

Eldar Guliyev - Chairman of the Council of Elders of Azerbaijan

Novruzali Aslanov - Chairman of the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society

Amir Aliyev - Chairman of the “Center for the Promotion of Human Rights” Public Union

Jalil Khalilov - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Organization of War, Labor and Armed Forces Veterans of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Novella Jafarova – Chairperson of the D. Aliyeva Society for the Protection of Azerbaijani Women's Rights

Saida Gojamanli – Chairperson of the Public Union for the Protection of Human Rights and the Rule of Law

Saadat Bananyarli – Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the International Human Rights Society, the Azerbaijan National Branch

Alimammad Nuriyev - President of the “Constitution” Research Foundation

Zaur Ibrahimli - Chairman of the “Priority” Center for Social and Economic Research Public Union

Dilgam Ahmad - Chairman of the “Chapar National Heritage Research Center” Public Union