May 28, Azerbaijan Republic Day
104 years ago on May 28, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) had been founded, becoming the first secular parliamentary democracy established in the Muslim World.
After the government in Russia had been overthrown in 1917, the empire collapsed and the Russians themselves executed their Czar together with his entire family. The Azerbaijani patriots immediately moved to disarm the Russian forces and take over their own country. On May 28, National Council of Azerbaijan was formed and Mammad Amin Resulzade became the first chairman of the Azerbaijan National Council, and the council adopted the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan.
Soon after declaring its independence, the ADR began seeking global recognition and establishing diplomatic ties with other nations. One of Azerbaijan’s key supporters in this mission was the US President Woodrow Wilson. The Azerbaijani delegation met with President Wilson on May 28, 1919 and handed him a copy of the memorandum for the Paris Peace Conference, which requested, among other things, the recognition of Azerbaijan’s Independence, its admission to the Paris Peace Conference, and the establishment of diplomatic ties between the US and Azerbaijan. In January of 1920, Azerbaijan was de facto recognized as an independent republic at the Paris Peace Conference. Soon after the Azerbaijani parliament adopted a law on the establishment of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the United States, Switzerland, Poland, Germany and Russia. At the same time, representative offices of the UK, Greece, Belgium, Georgia, Armenia, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Iran, USA, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland started operating in Azerbaijan.
The government of ADR was created as a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament consisted of 120 people, and included 80 Azerbaijanis and representatives of other nations according to their proportion in the population. Virtually all nationalities were represented in the Parliament. . Ethnic and religious minorities played an important part in the establishment and growth of ADR. Secularism, along with tolerance, were the fundamental principles of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic. It precluded religious discrimination and granted equal rights to Azerbaijani citizens of all faiths.
One of the most important feats of progressive and secular governance in the ADR was universal suffrage. Committed to gender equality, the ADR granted women the right to vote before such a law was passed in the United States and many European countries. This was the first time in the history of the Islamic world that women could exercise their civil rights to the same extent as men. Moreover, the ADR paid great attention to the education of women, opening schools for Azerbaijani girls and promoting their empowerment.
Education in general occupied a crucial position among ADR’s domestic policies. As soon as the ADR was established, a great number of secondary and high schools was opened all over the country, along with kindergartens, pedagogical training courses, and libraries. Moreover, on September 1, 1919, the Azerbaijani Parliament adopted a law on the opening of Baku State University. The ADR also sent young people to study in foreign universities, and, in the 1919-1920 academic year, a resolution was adopted to send 100 young people abroad for higher education at public expense. 45 people were sent to study in France, 23 in Italy, 10 in the UK and 9 in Turkey.
Azerbaijan had temporarily lost its independence upon its inclusion into the Soviet Union in April of 1920, only to regain its freedom upon the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. Despite having lasted for only 23 months, the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic has laid the unshakeable foundation of our nation and has instilled in all of us the ideals of democracy, secularism, tolerance, feminism, progressivism, and national pride.
Azerbaijan declared Independence again in 1991, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Immediately they established close diplomatic relations with the United States. The two countries work to promote European energy security, expand bilateral trade and investments, and combat terrorism and transnational threats. Azerbaijan supplied troops to fight side by side with US forces in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan...
Some of the descendants of ADR's founding fathers who had emigrated to the United States established the Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) in 1957, the first and the only organization established in American soil.
America gave us the freedom to honor Azerbaijan and raise its flag, even when there was no Azerbaijan on the world map in1957. ASA was able to preserve the Azerbaijani language, culture and history here in the US, when it was not allowed in the Soviet Azerbaijan. America gave us the freedom to keep Azerbaijan alive, we, as Americans with Azerbaijani heritage are forever grateful for that.
Happy Republic Day!
