Dear Colleagues!
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which is the celebration of the centuries-long rich statehood history of Azerbaijan at the beginning of the 20th century, achieved many achievements during its short period of existence, and most importantly, the existence of Azerbaijan as a state during that period was recognized by the international subject.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was founded by the generation of enlightened intellectuals brought up by the people of Azerbaijan, who gave the world many outstanding people, was based on democratic, legal and secular state principles, and was the first parliamentary republic of the Muslim East. The formation of many institutions of statehood, the creation of a national army, the implementation of economic reforms, the adoption of a national currency and our tricolor flag, the declaration of the Azerbaijani language as the state language, the opening of the first university of Azerbaijan, the recognition of equal citizenship rights of minority peoples living in the country, the first elections for women. granting the right, establishing diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, all these were historical services that the AKP government managed in just 23 months.
And these historical services of the Azerbaijan People's Republic left deep traces in the memory of our people and caused the love of independence to live in the hearts of the people during the 70-year Soviet rule. As a result of this, the independent state of Azerbaijan, which regained its independence in 1991, announced to the whole world that it was the successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
The Great Leader Heydar Aliyev also highly appreciated the Azerbaijan People's Republic and said at the solemn ceremony dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the APC on May 27, 1998: "The establishment of the Azerbaijan People's Republic restored our lost statehood. At the same time, the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic laid the foundation for the establishment of an independent Azerbaijan state and government based on democratic principles for the first time in the history of our nation. The establishment of the Azerbaijan People's Republic and the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence required great intelligence, foresight, courage, will, and heroism. Our valuable political figures took this historic step that day, that year, that month."
On May 16, 2017, President Ilham Aliyev signed the Decree on the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan People's Republic, and at the same time, with the Decree dated January 10, 2018, 2018 was declared the "Year of the Azerbaijan People's Republic" in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
There is no doubt that the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic has played an important role in the history of the public opinion of our people, in the formation of national thinking, in the continuation of the institution of statehood, and the path opened by it, democratic values shed light on the honorable path of the independent state of Azerbaijan today.
Dear Academy employees, I congratulate you on Independence Day and wish you good health and success in your research work.
Isa Habibbeyli,
President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, academician
