28 May – Republic Day
27/05/2014Each year the people of Azerbaijan celebrate 28 May-Republic Day. On that date in 1918 for the first time in the Muslim Orient, adopted a declaration of independence. This declaration established the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. It is a historical day in the development of Azerbaijani statehood.
The declaration of independence and establishment of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan at that time was not accidental. In the second half of XIX and the early years of XX century national identity feeling developed. In the early years of XX century Azerbaijan people’s desire for independence grew rapidly. Revolution of 1917 and disintegration of Russian Empire created favorable conditions for Azerbaijan to declare its independence and establish sovereignty.
The declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan was adopted on May 28, 1918, in city of Tiflis. For some time its capital was Ganja, then Baku. It has accomplished much in only 23 months of existence in terms of developing ideas of independence and freedom.
After 23 months, the Republic was occupied by Russian communist (the Bolshevik) XI Red Army, intending to reunite all lost empire territories under the new ideology, thus putting an end to the first Democratic Republic in the Orient. Newly established Republic was still weak and unable to stand face-to-face with a strong foreign army. Thus, declaration of the independence and establishment of the Democratic Republic in 1918 took place in a very hard condition.
Political decision by the Bolshevist Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic (RSFSR) not to recognize the Democratic Republic, deployment of the Eleventh Red Army on the frontiers of the Republic in Spring 1920, aggression perpetrated by Dashnak-ruled Armenia against Azerbaijan in Karabagh and Zangezur, terrorist strikes by Armenian groups and the Bolsheviks against the peaceful Azerbaijani population inside Azerbaijan, social and economic crisis which gripped the country – those were the factors that combined to bring about weakening of the Republic and led to the occupation of its capital by the Eleventh Red Army on April 27-28, 1920.
The next 71 years, during which Azerbaijan has been part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), marked a new, important stage in the development of the Azerbaijani statehood. At that stage the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic made important steps in terms of social, economic and cultural development. It should be noted that only Azerbaijan and Russia, among the 15 union Republics, were capable of to proving self-sufficient economically.
At the same time, however, the Soviet period saw many negative trends emerge in Azerbaijan, as elsewhere throughout the USSR. During the Soviet period, the territories of Zangezur, Geycha, part of Nakhchivan and other districts were chipped away from Azerbaijan and attached to neighboring Armenia. As a result, the country's territory, which in the time of Democratic Republic (1920) was 114,000 square kilometers, was reduced to 86,600 square kilometers in 1920-1921.
In addition, on July 7, 1923 at the initiative of Bolshevik leaders, the so-called Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous region, with a predominantly Armenian population, was artificially carved out of a part of the territory of historical Karabakh, where Azerbaijanis always constituted the majority of population. That decision marked the first step in the political campaign aimed at annexation of Nagorno Karabakh.
Global socio-political and economic processes resulting in disintegration of USSR in the end of XX century led to Azerbaijan’s restoration of independence, as was the case of other Republics of the Soviet Union.
In 1988-1990, national democratic movement in Azerbaijan campaigned vigorously for the restoration of the country's independence. On September 23, 1989 Azerbaijan was among the first Soviet republics to adopt its own Constitutional Law on Sovereignty. With a view to suppressing this movement, on January 20, 1990, with the approval of the Soviet leadership under Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet army units were dispatched to Baku. Their reprisals, conducted with uncommon savagery, left hundreds of innocent Azerbaijani citizens dead and wounded. A state of emergency was declared in the country and remained in force until mid-1991. Despite these setbacks, the untiring struggle for independence by patriotic forces within the Azerbaijani people culminated in the adoption of a Declaration of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan on August 31, 1991 on restoration of the State independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The act establishing the State independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which passed on October 18, 1991, set out the foundations for the statehood of an independent Azerbaijan and determined the principles of its political and economic structure. With the adoption of that act the Republic of Azerbaijan once again, after of 71 years, became an independent state.
Having declared its independence, Azerbaijan pursued policy of integration into International organizations, and development of relations with foreign nations. While restoring its independence, Azerbaijan faced a number of difficult problems. Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which started with territorial claims against Azerbaijan by Armenia in 1988, created especially hard situation in Azerbaijan, compared to other Republics of former Soviet Union. Aggression by Armenia, act of genocide committed against peaceful residents of Khojaly on February 26, 1992, occupation of Shusha in May 1992, followed by occupation of other districts, have aggravated the situation. The country found itself in a severe economic, political and military crisis. Chaos and anarchy ruled, endangering the very independence of Azerbaijan. Ganges of government, which took place several times between 1988 and 1993, were a clear indication of a speed at which the struggle for power was taking place at that time.
Thus, at the insistence and demand of nation, Heydar Aliyev returned to power, which put an end to the disorder, bringing back social and political stability and public order and all illegal armed units were disarmed. Through concluding ceasefire with Armenia in May 1994, establishing stability, rule-of-law, and order great possibilities opened for Azerbaijan’s development.
On September 20, 1994, by signing the Contract of the century, Azerbaijan not only laid down foundation of its oil strategy, but also determined main course of economic development strategy. 50 billion US dollars are to be invested in Azerbaijan’s oil sector through 23 oil contracts concluded with 25 foreign energy companies only. 17 billon US dollars have already been invested in Azerbaijan’s economy and it is developing successfully. Large-scale privatization program is carried out. Domestic product has increased by 90 % in the last 7 years. Several projects of great importance, both for Azerbaijan and the whole region, are to be carried out in Azerbaijan. One of these projects of world importance is BTC Main Export Pipeline. The initiator and architect of the project was the late H.Aliyev, and the pipeline was named after him. Other project of great importance, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, designed to export Azerbaijani gas to European markets, is being implemented successfully.
As a result of presidential elections held in October 2003, Ilham Aliyev was elected the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. From the beginning of his tenure, he began to fulfill his comprehensive wide-scale campaign pledges to the people, as they are included in his key political line aimed at continuing domestic and foreign policy of Heydar Aliyev. They include State Program aimed at expedient social and economic development of the regions, creation of 600 000 jobs, development of non-oil sector, creation of favorable conditions for entrepreneurship, increasing security and welfare of low-income people, finding solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in compliance with international law and territorial sovereignty of Azerbaijan, strengthening national solidarity, conduct of balanced foreign policy respecting national interest, as well as integrating into European and world structures. Over the last year Azerbaijan extracted 15,3 million tons of crude oil, 5 billion c.m. of gas and produced 21,4 billion kilowatts/hour of electricity, 795000 tons of petrol and 1,8 million ton of diesel, over the last year. Foreign investments into Azerbaijan’s economy grew by 12,3 percent over the last year, and reached at 3,9 billion US dollars, out of which 2,3 billion US dollars were invested in construction. 80 thousand jobs were created in just one year. State program was adopted on improving living conditions of IDPs and refugees and increasing the employment levels among them. 4 refugee camps are to be abolished in Barda and Aghjabadi regions, and 3860 IDPs to be moved into newly-built settlements with a new infrastructure.
It is clear indication of the President’s desire to reach the country’s strategic purposes, in accordance with his own words “We shall make our country rich and powerful”. Now the Republic of Azerbaijan has its own developing economy, independent foreign policy and dynamically developing relations with many countries of the world.
