Day of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
28.05.2020 / Conferences, assemblies28 May 1918 is the day of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first secular democratic state in the Muslim East. Since 1990, Republic Day has been celebrated as a national holiday.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic founded by Mohammed Amin Rasulzade was the first parliamentary republic and the first example of a democratic, legal and rule-of-law state in the Turkic and Islamic world.
The first head of the interim government of Azerbaijan was Fatali Khan Khoysky. After 10 days in Tbilisi, the National Council was moved to Ganja. Only in September 1918, after the liberation of Baku from the Dashnak-Russian forces under the leadership of the Turkish army was the national government moved from Ganja to Baku. The independent Azerbaijan Republic has gained great achievements and victories in its short life. For the first time in the independent Azerbaijan Republic, women's suffrage was recognized and gender equality ensured, as well as the national army, national currency, democratization, national banking, free elections, international relations and recognition of Azerbaijan’s independence by the international community, ensuring the integrity of Azerbaijan, economic reforms, etc. The first state to officially recognize the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was the Ottoman Empire (4 June 1918).
On 9 November 1918, at the suggestion of M.A. Rasulzade, the three-color flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was adopted. Prior to that, the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was red.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was able to operate in a tense and difficult socio-political situation for only 23 months. Unfortunately, before it lived full two years, the independent Republic of Azerbaijan was attacked by the Bolsheviks and was temporarily overthrown. The Soviet Union forcibly annexed Azerbaijan. Despite the overthrow by the Bolsheviks, the idea of independence was not defeated, and after the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991, Azerbaijan declared its independence again.
In May-June 1993, when an extreme aggravation of the government crisis created a threat of civil war and the loss of independence, the national leader Heydar Aliyev was brought to power for the second time and took a step to a new stage of independence of Azerbaijan. The period of prosperity and economic development began. The history of Azerbaijan in the last thirty years, the revival in all spheres of the life of the people over the years are associated with the name of the architect of the modern independent Azerbaijani state, the great leader Heydar Aliyev. The path to the restoration of the independent statehood of Azerbaijan, in fact, began in 1969, when the brilliant leader came to power.
The signing and implementation of the first oil contract called the “Contract of the Century” in September 1994 against the backdrop of the country's relative calm and growing trust and interest in Azerbaijan in the international arena, was a striking manifestation of the oil strategy developed by Heydar Aliyev, the concept of economic development of Azerbaijan. As the founder of the modern independent Azerbaijani state, Heydar Aliyev created the foundation of the idea of our national statehood. Independent Azerbaijan founded by the Great Leader, who has dedicated his entire adult life to his people, will continue to develop and perpetuate the name of its founder.