The 34th anniversary of the restoration of state independence is celebrated in Azerbaijan on Saturday.
Until 2021, October 18 was celebrated as the State Independence Day of Azerbaijan. However, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the important date, the Milli Majlis (parliament) adopted a bill according to which Independence Day will be celebrated annually on May 28 (previously Republic Day), and October 18 is proclaimed as the Day of Restoration of State Independence.
The formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, considered the first democratic state of the Muslim East, was announced on 28 May 1918 by the National Council chaired by Mamed Emin Rasulzade.
Two years later, the Red Army entered Azerbaijan. Thus, Azerbaijan only reappeared on the historical stage as an independent state on October 18, 1991.
It is worth noting that the residents of Azerbaijan for 70 years never forgot that they had a state that provided equal rights to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, religion and confessional affiliation.
The massacre that the Soviet the army committed on January 20, 1990 in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan, completely undermined the trust of the Azerbaijani people in the USSR and accelerated the processes leading the country to independence.
On August 30, 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, which at that time served as parliament, adopted the Declaration of Independence. In September 1991, the Supreme Council at its meetings discussed Azerbaijan’s secession from the USSR.
The Supreme Council on October 18, 1991 adopted the “Constitutional Act on the State Independence of the Azerbaijan Republic” by a majority vote. In the document, the USSR was named an invader, and Azerbaijan was declared the legal successor of the republic created in 1918.
By decision of the Supreme Council, a referendum was organized on December 29, 1991, during which almost the entire population of Azerbaijan voted for independence.