This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices. Today marks the 20th anniversary of Black January, the day when the fledgling independence movement in Azerbaijan was brutally suppressed by Soviet troops ostensibly to curtail inter-ethnic tensions between ethnic Armenian and Azeris living in the capital, Baku. A week earlier, following an anti-Armenian pogrom in Sumgait which left at least 32 people dead in February 1988, dozens of ethnic Armenians were killed. Last year, Global Voices Online summarized the chronology of events as well as reaction to the 19th anniversary. As stories of mutual violence between the two ethnic groups continued to circulate, the situation quickly escalated, and on 13 January 1990 another anti-Armenian pogram broke out in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. Figures vary, but anywhere between 48 and 66 — or possibly more — ethnic Armenians were killed. By 19 January, most of the city's Armenian minority had fled, and the next day Soviet tanks and thousands of soldiers had already moved in ostensibly to stem the ethnic violence which had reportedly subsided. Until this day, questions linger as to why it took so long for Moscow to react, but Human Rights Watch alleges that the military incursion had been planned long before. With at least 130 people killed as a result of the Soviet incursion, the week of 13-20th January 1990 remains etched in the hearts and minds of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Given the war over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh that it would soon usher in, and the independence that ethnic conflict would soon define, both sides naturally recount events selectively. Armenians, for example, allege that more of their ethnic kin died while believing that the crackdown by Soviet troops was for their protection. Azerbaijanis, on the other hand, see the intervention only as a means to prevent their country from seceding from the former Soviet Union and rarely, if ever, mention the anti-Armenian pogroms which preceded it. Blogs by foreign travelers with experience of the region, however, set events arguably in their proper context. Changes and Colours, for example, notes the violence that spared no one and left many caught inbetween. […] Twenty years ago when the movement for independence from the Soviet Union was gaining momentum, a wave of nationalistic pogroms erupted in the country. In a city once known for its multinational culture people turned on each other “man against man, neighbor against neighbor.” Some chose to become hunters, some, not given a choice, became hunted. People were killed and those who weren’t fled the city. On the night from the 19th to 20th of January 1990 Soviet troops entered Baku and again innocent people were killed. […] Twenty years have passed but the memories of those days are still throbbing. One woman told me how she and her small kids huddled in the bathroom close to the floor because so many people were killed by stray bullets. “I still remember the crack running in the center of my tiles,” she said. The other told of the painful realization that people whom you knew could so easily turn against you. “We were neighbors, you know,” she kept repeating, even after 20 years shaking her head in disbelief. Whenever I listen to people talk about those days – I inevitably notice the faraway look of souls lost in the past and when after a pause they return to conversation, they say, “Let’s not talk about it, it was so long ago” and then there is silence. These selective interpretations and accounts of January 1990 from Armenians and Azerbaijanis, however, are not only perpetuated through the local media, but also carried through on blogs. Of course, the loss to both sides was painful and this is perhaps to be expected. Marika, for example, marked the 20th anniversary of the Baku pogrom simply. […]. It was on January 13th 1990 when «cleansing» of Baku from Armenian population statred and resulted in 400 Armenians killed and 200 thousand exiled. Meanwhile, the blog of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy doesn't mention the pogrom at all and instead concentrates only on the Soviet intervention, using the anniversary to also talk only of reported ethnic violence against Azerbaijanis by Armenians. It was 20 January 1990 and it was time to respond Azerbaijanis. The response became the expected horror – violence! 26.000 Soviet troops were sent to Baku. Not for settling the conflict. Because the conflict was occurring in Garabagh. Meanwhile, Yerevan Journal quotes media reports on violence and attrocities against ethnic Armenians in Baku while Window on Eurasia analyzes events and says that, as in Armenia, January 1990 represented the “Karabakhization” of internal politics in the country.