Declaration of Independence, death of Gorbachev...

Baku/31.08.22/Turan: Today is the 31st anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration "On the restoration of the state independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan." On August 30, 1991,  an extraordinary session of the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, adopted the Declaration "On the restoration of the state independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan".

On August 30 died  Mikhail Gorbachev, the first and last president of the USSR, who opposed the independence of Azerbaijan and  was one of the perpetrators of the tragedy on January 20, 1990.

On September 2,  separatist regime based in Karabakh is preparing to celebrate  the 31st anniversary of the proclamation of the so-called "independence".

A meeting between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia is expected in Brussels today.

Isa Gambar, the head of the National Center for Strategic Thinking, Isa Gambar,  commented on these and other questions in the “Difficult Question” program.

The reason   for the  delayed  adoption of the Declaration "On the Restoration of the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan"  was Moscow's extremely negative attitude towards our country, Gambar believes. The Declaration was adopted later than in  many post-Soviet countries, despite  Azerbaijan was among the first republics where the independence movement began.

“The movement for independence began in Azerbaijan in 1988 and victory  was gained on October 18, 1991. For most of this period, the regime of martial law (Special Status) introduced by Moscow was in force in Azerbaijan. Martial law was introduced in Baku and many other regions of the country on December 5, 1988, and actually lasted until August-September 1989. Starting from August-September 1989, the "People's Movement" (national democratic movement) was revived again under the leadership of the PFA (People's Front of Azerbaijan). After committing the crime of "January 20", Moscow re-introduced a state of emergency, which lasted a year and a half, until the State Committee for the State of Emergency - a self-proclaimed authority in the USSR, which existed from August 18 to 21, 1991. In a word, the independence movement in Azerbaijan came face to face with Russian military aggression.”

According to Isa Gambar, this explains the delay in a number of important processes in Azerbaijan.

“This also applies to issues of independence, and the creation of the National Army, and preparations to repel the Armenian aggression. All these delays are connected with Moscow's hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

According to the analyst, another equally important reason for the delay was the then leadership of Azerbaijan “appointed by Moscow and ruled from Moscow, the cowardly leadership of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. It slowed down the solution of issues, in every possible way hindered the struggle for national independence, military development, repulse of aggression from Armenia,” Gambar said.

Concerning the personality of M.S. Gorbachev, Gambar noted that he was an ordinary representative of the Soviet party nomenklatura. “There is no reason to present Gorbachev as some kind of strong personality, a great democrat, a reformer. I do not see the merits of Gorbachev as the initiator of reforms, changes in the USSR were inevitable,” he said.