Azerbaijan celebrates the 105th anniversary of the formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (Adr).
The holiday has been celebrated since 1990 in the current Azerbaijan Republic. Since 2021, according to the bill “On the Day of Independence” in Azerbaijan on May 28 (the former “Day of the Republic”) was renamed “Independence Day”.
The education of the ADR – the first Democratic Republic in the Muslim East – was announced on May 28, 1918 in Tiflis by the National Council under the chairmanship of Mameda Emin Rasulzade.
In those days, Baku was under the occupation of the Bolsheviks and Armenian gangs, and therefore the Provisional Government of Azerbaijan under the leadership of Fatali Khan Khoysky continued for some time in the city of Ganja.
The first of the independence of Azerbaijan was recognized by the Ottoman state.
In accordance with the agreement signed between the two countries on June 4, 1918, the Caucasian Islamic Army, headed by Nuri Pashoy (Killigil), arrived in Azerbaijan.
The Armenians and the Bolsheviks were liberated by the Gokchaysky, Salian, Ansuinsky and Kurdemir districts, and on September 15, 1918 – and Baku.
In the battles for Baku, 1,130 military personnel of the Caucasian Islamic Army were killed.
In Azerbaijan, reforms in the areas of economics, education, religion and other areas were implemented in a short time.
In the “Declaration of Independence” of Azerbaijan, equal rights were assigned to all citizens, regardless of racial, religious affiliation and gender. Azerbaijan became the first country in the Muslim East to provide women with the right to vote.
National currency and postage stamps were also introduced, the State Bank and the Baku State University were created.
On June 26, Azerbaijan created the National Army. An important role in this was played by officers of the Ottoman army.
by the decision of the Government of June 27, 1918, the Turkic language was announced to the ADR state.
If earlier in many schools, learning was conducted in Russian, then after the creation of ADR, training in Turkic became mandatory.
on December 10, 1918, the 120-seater national parliament began, in which all political parties and ethnic sections of the country’s population were represented. For 17 months of its activity, the parliament adopted 230 bills.
April 28, 1920, the Red Army detachments occupied Azerbaijan, putting an end to the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Most government officials and intellectuals left the country. The founder of Azerbaijan, Mamed Emin Rasulzade, spent the last years of his life in Turkey. In 1949, he founded the Azerbaijani Culture Association in Ankara, continuing to talk about the situation in his country, wrote books and organized conferences.
The words of Rasulzade “Once the raised flag will never go down” turned into a slogan for all Azerbaijanis.
After the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan again gained independence. Modern Azerbaijan is considered the successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic of 1918-1920.