On Jan. 20, Azerbaijan marked the 34th anniversary of a somber chapter in its history: the Soviet Army's military invasion and civilian bloodshed in Baku. In response to growing national independence movements, the Soviet leadership dispatched around 26,000 troops in an operation ominously named 'Strike.' This forceful response aimed to suppress the burgeoning Azerbaijani nonviolent independence movement, fueled by discriminatory policies, territorial claims and mass deportations of ethnic Azerbaijanis. The resulting massacre was a blatant violation of international law and the Soviet Constitution.