On May 28 Azerbaijan celebrates Republic Day. Azerbaijan People’s Republic - the first republic in the Muslim world - was proclaimed on this day 97 years ago. The Republic Day is an official state holiday and a day off.
The Independence of Azerbaijan and other Caucasian republics became possible after the end of World War I and a political situation that weakened the Russian empire. However the Russian empire has caused serious confrontation between the nations of the region to prevent them uniting.
Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic on May 26, 1918 caused by confrontations between Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani factions in the Transcaucasian parliament. On May 26 Georgian Deputies dropped out of the Federation and proclaimed independence of Georgia and on May 27 members of the Muslim faction of the Transcaucasian parliament decided to proclaim independence of Azerbaijan and announced themselves the Interim National Council of Azerbaijan. At that session Mamed Emin Rasulzada was elected chairman of the National Council of Azerbaijan.
The Independence Declaration was adopted on May 28, 1918. The Declaration announced creation of the democratic parliament republic in Azerbaijan and it said that all nations living in Azerbaijan have sovereign rights and Azerbaijan is an independence state.
The National Council operated in Tbilisi for 18 days and then moved to Ganja. At that time Baku was controlled by the Baku commune led by Stepan Shaumian. In September 1918 the Azerbaijan People’s Republic government moved to Baku after the liberation of Baku from the Menshevik government “Dictatorship of Central Caspian” by the Caucasian Turkish Islamic army.
Azerbaijan People’s Republic guaranteed rights and freedoms of all citizens, irrespective of their nationality and religion. For the first time in the Muslim world women had electoral rights and the Republic was recognized at the Versailles World Conference.
During 23 months Azerbaijan People’s Republic’s government adopted several laws, implemented political, military, legal and economic reforms and created the first university.
Even after Azerbaijan’s occupation by the bolshevist Russia, Azerbaijan’s statehood was preserved. The first Azerbaijan Democratic republic collapsed on April 28, 1920 as a result of invasion of the Red Army. Azerbaijan gained independence after the USSR collapse in 1991 and announced itself a successor of Azerbaijan People’s Republic.-0-
Politics
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The recent detentions of journalists in Azerbaijan have caused sharp criticism from the country's politicians and public figures.
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An official notification has been sent to the American side that USAID has no legal grounds to work in the country and that it should stop its activities.This was reported by Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizadeh.
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The International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ) condemned the arrest of Shamshad Agha, editor-in-chief of the independent news website 'Arqument.az', and called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release him and other imprisoned journalists.
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On the evening of February 5, it was reported that journalist Shahnaz Beylargizi had been arrested. She had been a presenter on the Toplum TV channel for several years. After a criminal case was initiated against the channel in March 2024 and nearly all of its staff were arrested, Beylargizi was questioned multiple times. According to relatives, the police conducted a search of her apartment.
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