On Monday, November 17, Azerbaijan celebrates National Revival Day. The historical date is associated with the national liberation movement that began in Baku in November-December 1988.
During that period, in connection with the anti-Azerbaijani policy of the Soviet leadership around the Karabakh issue, an anti-Soviet popular movement began in Azerbaijan. On November 17, 1988, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Azadlig Square in Baku to protest against the policy of double standards pursued by Moscow.
The action, which lasted continuously for 17 days, involved millions of people and became the largest protest on the territory of the USSR.
In early December, internal troops of the USSR dispersed the rallies, but these events were regarded as a national liberation movement and are considered the main factor in Azerbaijan gained independence.
In September 1989, the Supreme Council adopted the Constitutional Act on the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and on January 19-20, 1990, Soviet troops were sent to Baku. Heavy equipment and firearms were used against civilians, and hundreds of people were killed. However, this event did not break the spirit of the Azerbaijani people, and accelerated the national liberation movement.
On November 17, 1990, the first session of the Supreme Council of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in a new composition took place. The words “Soviet” and “socialist” were excluded from the name of the Autonomous Republic.
On October 18, 1991, the state independence of Azerbaijan was declared. National Revival Day in Azerbaijan has been celebrated since November 17, 1992.
Since 2020, National Revival Day has been celebrated in the context of the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
On September 27, 2020, in response to a large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the front line, the Azerbaijani army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the “Iron Fist”. The war, which lasted 44 days, put an end to the almost thirty-year occupation of the lands of Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani army liberated 5 cities, 4 villages, 286 villages, and a large number of strategic heights from the Armenian occupation. Armenia, having admitted defeat, signed an act of surrender, according to which it pledged to liberate the occupied territories in the Aghdam, Lachin and Kelbajar regions of Azerbaijan.
According to a tripartite statement signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, as well as the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the night of 9 to 10 November 2020, the Armenian army was withdrawn from the above areas.