Synergy Baku commemorates National Day of Mourning

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's first continental team Synergy Baku together with the national MTB riders of Azerbaijan, who will represent the country at the first Baku 2015 European Games, have already commenced their first winter season training in Calpe, Spain.

From the very first days of their training the riders have worn black arm bands, honoring the tragic page in the history of Azerbaijan - the Black January in 1990.

From January 19^th night and continued into January 20^th, 26,000 hostile and aggressive-minded Soviet special forces called "Alfa" entered Baku and committed atrocities against the Azerbaijani people. They stormed and murdered hundreds of civilians without declaring a state of emergency.

Though the final death toll is still disputed to this day, at least 130 people died from wounds received during the subsequent violent confrontations. A vast majority of the casualties were civilians, with over 700 of them wounded.

During the commemoration the riders under the command of Farhad Aliyev, General Secretary of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation have paid respect to the spirit of all martyrs with a minute of silence.

Meanwhile the riders have continued to their training day with 200km distance through mountains.

The training session will last until January30.