Committee for State Security of the

Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

( Russian: Комитет государственной безопасности Азербайджанская ССР) or KGB of the AzSSR was the

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

of the

, being the local branch of Committee for State Security of the USSR. Its headquarters was on Narimanov Avenue in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

, capital of the Azerbaijan SSR.

History

The KGB in Azerbaijan was founded in 1954 and would eventually be succeeded by the

State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan The State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan ( az, Dövlət Təhlükəsizlik Xidməti) is a government agency established on the base of Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan. State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

(''Dövlət Təhlükəsizlik Komitəsi'') in 2015. By the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of National Security was established on the basis of the State Security Committee on 1 November 1991.

Activities

One of the spheres of activity in the KGB was against the separatist activity of Armenians, including attempts to annex the

Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Nakhichevan ASSR was an autonomous republic within the Azerbaijan SSR, itself a republic within the Soviet Union. It was formed on 16 March 1921 and became a part of the Aze ...

and the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...

to the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

. These activities specifically targeted the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

. In the late 1980s, the main tasks of the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR were to prevent the subversive activities of neighboring states against Azerbaijan The KGB played a major role in the 1989

Baku pogrom The Baku pogrom ( hy, Բաքվի ջարդեր, ) was a pogrom directed against the ethnic Armenian inhabitants of Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. From January 12, 1990, a seven-day pogrom broke out against the Armenian civilian population in Baku during ...

and the

Black January Black January ( az, Qara Yanvar), also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown on the civilian population of Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Uni ...

events. Late at night on 19 January 1990, after the special forces of the KGB took part in the demolition of the central television station and termination of phone and radio lines, making way for the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

to enter Baku. During the events, ethnic Azerbaijanis were fired or sent to other regions under various pretexts.

Chairmen of the KGB of AzSSR

References

{{Regional KGB Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic KGB