January 22
1990: Gorbachev explains crackdown in Azerbaijan
Protesters are causing disruption to the work
1990: Gorbachev explains crackdown in Azerbaijan
England have
President Mikhail Gorbachev has made a statement on Soviet television
explaining the Soviet crackdown on civil unrest in the republic of
Azerbaijan.
Two days ago Soviet troops were ordered into the republic to try and end
the undeclared conflict between Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians, and put
down a separatist insurrection by Azerbaijani nationalists.
Official reports say up to 60 people died when tanks rolled into the
republic's capital, Baku.
President Gorbachev, who is confronting his worst crisis since he became
leader, said he had no choice but to order his troops in.
"To our deepest regret people have died," the Soviet leader said in a live
12-minute address on TV.
"Militant nationalist careerists refused to listen to the voice of
reason.
"Events took a particularly tragic turn in Baku. There were growing calls
for seizure of power by force."
He said that he hoped the decision to send in the army would "be understood
and supported by all citizens of our country".
President Gorbachev also extended his deepestcondolencesto the relatives of
the victims who died in the takeover.
The move comes after tension erupted recently at a nationalist rally in
Soviet Transcaucasia.
In the ensuing pogroms in Baku, Armenian homes were set on fire and looted
while many Armenians were killed or injured.
In the disputed Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh, roads were blocked
and trains were halted.
Azerbaijan's President Elmira Kafarova said in a statement broadcast on
Baku radio that her people would "never forgive" those responsible for the
deaths.
Communist Party politician Boris Yeltsin also condemned the use of armed
forces.
"It is a mistake to dispatch troops and suppress ethnic problems by armed
force," he added.
He warned that East European socialism had become corrupted "because it was
state socialism guarded by the military".
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Dr Sakharov has openly opposed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1980: Soviet dissident Sakharov banished
Artificially 1969:
The One of the Soviet Union's most outspoken critics, nuclear physicist Dr
Andrei Sakharov, has been ordered into internal exile.
Officials in Moscow were angered by an interview Dr Sakharov gave American
television last week, in which he called for the withdrawal of Soviet troops
from Afghanistan.
It was the final straw after the Nobel peace prize winner had escaped
arrest during more than 13 years of dissident activity.
In the interview, Dr Sakharov also told American viewers he supported plans
to boycott the summer Olympics in Moscow.
He said he was in favour of the US sanctions ordered by President Carter in
retaliation for the invasion.
Arrested by KGB
The scientist and his wife, Yelena Bonner, were seized by officers of the
Soviet secret service, the KGB, while walking in a Moscow street.
Dr Sakharov was stripped of his official honours.
The couple were given two hours to pack before being sent to Gorky, an
industrial city 250 miles east of Moscow and off limits to foreign
reporters.
Dr Sakharov was credited with creating the first Soviet hydrogen bomb - but
later became involved in campaigning for nuclear disarmament.
He won the 1975 Nobel Peace Price because of his fight for human
rights.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Dr Sakharov spoke about the need for
change in the Soviet Union.
He said: "Our country, like every modern state, needs profound democratic
reforms. It needs political and ideological pluralism, a mixed economy and
protection of human rights and the opening up of society."
Vocabulary:
condolence: an expression of sympathy with another's grief(哀悼) | 
发表于 2016-7-9 23:58:00