OTS: Azerbaijan Celebrates 25 Years of Independence

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR-OTS) - On 18 October 1991, Azerbaijan regained its independence after around seventy years of Soviet era.

As early as 28 May 1918, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was declared, which was the first parliamentary democracy in the Islamic Orient. The first republic, which was swallowed up by Bolshevik Russia after 23 month of existence, introduced women's suffrage that time.

The road from Soviet rule to independence was accompanied by a series of bloody events, namely “Black January” and a military skirmish with Armenia regarding the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On 20 January 1990, the then Soviet government tried to break up mass protests in Baku by force through the invasion of Soviet troops, in the aftermath of which 131 civilians died.

At that moment the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated and turned to a military skirmish between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Approximately 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia as a result of this conflict.

Armenia occupied more than 20 % of Azerbaijani national territory (Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts) and around 750,000 inhabitants were expelled from these areas.

Despite Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan was able to make enormous progress shortly after regaining independence. On 20 September 1994, the "Century Contract" with foreign undertakings was signed, whereupon the way for foreign investments worth billions was paved. At the initiative of and partially with the financial support of Azerbaijan the biggest regional projects were implemented, among them being Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tibilisi gas pipeline.

A railway from Azerbaijan across Georgia to Turkey will be completed soon, thanks to which it will be possible to transport goods from China to East Europe using a considerably shorter route.

Today, no project can be implemented without the participation of Azerbaijan since Azerbaijan is the most important country in the region from the economic point of view.

According to the Constitution, Azerbaijan is a democratic, constitutional, worldly and unitary Republic. Azerbaijan, where members of various minorities have coexisted in peace for centuries, is internationally distinguished by strong religious tolerance.

On international level Azerbaijan has been pursuing a policy of openness to all political and economic forces willing to cooperate and is a non-aligned country. In this respect the foreign policy of the country is comparable to the policy of neutrality of Slovakia.

Azerbaijan is a member of various multinational organizations and is well integrated in the network of international relations.

In 2012, Azerbaijan was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council by the General Assembly, which was one of the most significant achievements of the foreign policy of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has achieved a great deal also in many other spheres. The most important achievement of the Azerbaijani nation is its independence.

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