Baku (TDI): Azerbaijan is commemorating the 34th anniversary of the restoration of its independence today, on October 18. This day is a celebration of the rebirth of a sovereign state.
On 18 October 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted the Constitutional Act “On the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
This document marked the formal re-establishment of the independent Azerbaijani state, declaring it the legal successor to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic of 1918.
The act was comprehensive, comprising six chapters and 32 articles, and drew upon earlier declarations made on 28 May 1918 and 30 August 1991.
It was overwhelmingly supported by the public in a nationwide referendum held on 29 December 1991, confirming the people’s desire for full independence and sovereignty.
However, the early years of independence were marred by internal instability and Armenia’s military aggression.
It was not until 1993, when National Leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power at the demand of the people, that Azerbaijan began to stabilize and lay the foundation for a strong, independent state.
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Under his leadership, major international projects such as the Contract of the Century and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline were initiated, propelling the country into a phase of rapid economic and political growth.
Heydar Aliyev is remembered as the architect of modern Azerbaijan; a leader whose vision turned independence into a lasting reality.
The sense of patriotism and nationalism surged once again among Azerbaijani people in 2020, when the country waged the 44-day Patriotic War, which ended nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation of Nagorno Karabakh.
In the country’s national consciousness, the post-war period holds immense significance, and has seen rapid reconstruction and development in the liberated territories.
Thousands of internally displaced Azerbaijanis have returned to their ancestral homes, and the nation’s tricolor flag now waves in every corner of the land.
This year, Independence Restoration Day is being celebrated with a renewed sense of pride; as a nation not only free, but also victorious and united.
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