Azaddin Gyulmamedov

Azaddin Gyulmamedov, a young Azeri-Turk who witnessed the outbreak of antiArmenian violence while he attended the Popular Front rally in Baku on the 13th, gave the following account: "We went to see what was happening. We saw these guys in the streets. I don't know who they were drug addicts, maybe. They had sticks and clubs, and lists of Armenians and where they lived. They wanted to break down the doors of Armenian apartments and chase them out. The police didn't do anything. They just stood and watched. Same with the soldiers, who had weapons. We asked them to help. There were about a dozen soldiers and ten of us, and there were about twenty in the gang, but the soldiers wouldn't help. They said: 'You can do it yourself, Blackie. We're not getting involved." (Cullen, p. 70) Soviet troops moved into Baku on January 19, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The anti-Armenian crowds had turned anti-Soviet and surrounded the building of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party. But the anti-Armenian pogrom had already run its course, leaving 68 dead, according to the customarily low official figures. A mere 1,800 Armenians remain in Baku. Most are believed to be married to Azeri-Turks or are the offspring of mixed marriages. Within months of the Baku pogrom, Azerbaijan had been virtually 'cleansed' of Armenians.