30 years ago, on October 18, 1991, based on the Declaration of Independence adopted by the National Council of Azerbaijan on May 28, 1918, and the succession of democratic principles and traditions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and guided by the Declaration on the Restoration of State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated August 30, 1991, the Constitutional Act on the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is one of the greatest and most glorious events in the history of statehood of the Azerbaijani people, was adopted, and this Act established the foundations of the state structure, political and economic structure of the modern independent Republic of Azerbaijan.
Based on the Constitutional Act on the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated October 18, 1991, an appeal was made to the UN and the world community to recognize the Republic of Azerbaijan as an equal subject of international law, a member of the international community. The process of recognition of the independence, which began with the official recognition of the state independence of Azerbaijan by the brotherly Republic of Turkey on November 7, 1991, was carried out with reference to this Constitutional Act and entered into force, and the Republic of Azerbaijan was recognized as a full member of the international community, a subject of international law, a member of the United Nations, and has established diplomatic relations with countries around the world.
Constitutional Act on State Independence of Azerbaijan assessed the occupation of the territory of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic by the 11th Army of the RSFSR on April 27-28, 1920, Russia’s armed aggression, occupation, and annexation of independent Azerbaijan, and the USSR’s policy towards Azerbaijan as a colonial policy and established a relationship of succession between the modern Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which existed from May 28, 1918, to April 28, 1920.
The restoration of state independence on October 18, 1991, was the result of the continuous struggle of the Azerbaijani people for independence despite repression, mass executions, terror, and numerous casualties since the occupation in April 1920. The war of independence, which was started immediately after the occupation of Azerbaijan by Soviet Russia and carried out first openly and then secretly, and the struggle for the restoration of independence after being suppressed by the communist regime and destroyed by mass persecution continued with great self-sacrifices, under the leadership of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, by the Azerbaijani emigrants under the leadership of the figures of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Azerbaijan National Center acting as the Azerbaijani Emigrant Government, and its legal organizations such as the Ankara-based Azerbaijan Cultural Association established by M. A. Rasulzade, and other public and political institutions. The struggle for independence in exile, coordinated by the Azerbaijani Emigrant Government – the Azerbaijan National Center, played an exceptional role in the survival of the idea and practice of an independent Azerbaijani state, not allowing the flag of independence, which was raised in 1918, to fall.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, during the heyday of the communist Soviet empire, Abulfaz Elchibey began a national struggle in Baku, and the center of the independence movement returned to Azerbaijan within the USSR. A. Elchibey launched a political struggle against the USSR, claiming that the peoples living in the USSR, including the people of Azerbaijan, were being assimilated by suppression of the national language and national cadres from the political and scientific-cultural elite, creation of artificial barriers to their careers, lack of training and teaching of national history, and distortion and subversion of the historical consciousness of nations in the form of Russification and the destruction of national identity. At a time and in an environment where the totalitarian communist regime dominated the ideas, thoughts and mentality, feelings and emotions of the Soviet people, Elchibey propagated ideas such as “Northern Azerbaijan must be separated from the USSR, Southern Azerbaijan must be separated from Iran, and they must be united as an independent state; This can be made possible not by the state, but by the people; Language is one of the determining factors of a nation. If the Azerbaijani language is suppressed and the current territory of the Azerbaijanis is not complete (i.e. there is no territorial unity), then the Azerbaijanis will not be formed as a nation but will begin to disappear after losing their features; Turkic-speaking peoples can unite and create a Turan state. Its center should be Azerbaijan.” Such ideas propagated by Elchibey led to initiatives and real steps towards the organization of a national movement within Azerbaijan for the first time since the 1920s, which became widespread among students and intellectuals in Azerbaijan.
Developing a theory of the forms and tactics of the interaction of mass movements for national freedom, democracy, and social justice in totalitarian societies such as the USSR, A. Elchibey substantiated the possibility and necessity of carrying out the struggle for independence in democratic forms and means, even by using the governing mechanisms of the communist totalitarian regime in a legal political way, and the idea that national independence and democratic freedoms are conditioned and strengthened by organic unity, and brilliantly applied this in the practice of the Azerbaijani people’s movement. In the course of the national struggle launched by A. Elchibey inside Azerbaijan, the national liberation movement for state independence merged with the movement for democratic goals and acquired the character of a national democratic movement.
In the second half of the 1980s, young people and intellectuals who embraced A. Elchibey’s idea of the state independence of Azerbaijan and came forward for real struggle in this area took an active part in the struggle for democratic rights and freedoms and social justice against the totalitarian communist regime of the USSR. Furthermore, they played a key role in the formation and expansion of the Azerbaijan People’s Movement and took a leading position in this movement, showing national resistance to the attempts of the Armenian separatists to separate Karabakh from Azerbaijan and unite it with Armenia. The movement of November 17, 1988, which entered our history as the National Revival Day and involved millions of people, played an important role in the spread of the idea of independence.
Elchibeyist Azerbaijan Popular Front was formed on July 16, 1989, at the founding conference of the Azerbaijan Popular Front with the adoption of resolutions with program status, such as Resolution on the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Resolution on the State Sovereignty of Azerbaijan, Resolution on the Situation of Turkic Peoples Living in the USSR. The transformation of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, which emerged in early 1988 as a form of organization of mass independent socio-political initiatives as a result of the processes taking place in the USSR, into a national democratic platform by accepting Elchibey’s ideas ensured the success of this movement-organization as a truly popular, mass, and nationwide organization and movement. The struggle for the independence of Azerbaijan has entered a stage managed and directed by a nationwide organization.
In September 1989, as a result of public pressure organized by the Azerbaijan Popular Front, the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR adopted the Law on Economic Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan SSR, which declared the priority of the republic’s laws over the laws of the Union for the first time in the USSR after the Baltic republics. Based on the will of the people expressed in the resistance of millions of Azerbaijanis against one of the most powerful armies in the world with bare hands during the massacre committed by the Empire with military aggression against Azerbaijan on January 20, 1990, in accordance with the principles of its program, the Azerbaijan Popular Front announced the beginning of the struggle for Azerbaijan to secede from the USSR and become a fully independent state.
From the very beginning of the activities of the “Independent Azerbaijan” Deputy Bloc, which remained in history as the “Democratic Bloc” after the 1990 Supreme Soviet elections, which was an example of the use of democratic forms of struggle in anti-democratic conditions where a totalitarian regime was maintained, and the majority of which were members of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, brought the issue of achieving Azerbaijan’s state independence by seceding from the USSR to the parliamentary level, relying on the support of the Azerbaijan Popular Front in the organization and mass actions. The struggle in parliament against the Referendum on Maintaining the USSR in March 1991 and a hunger strike held by a group of those deputies together with Elchibey became one of the bright pages in the history of our struggle for independence, and these 43 deputies were awarded the title of independent deputies by the people and were written in the history of independence.
Chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, Abulfaz Elchibey, was the first in the USSR to make a statement against the coup attempt of imperialist forces to maintain the USSR in August 1991, calling on the Azerbaijani people to defend democracy and openly fight for independence. In those days, under the leadership of A. Elchibey, under the influence of the struggle of the Azerbaijan Popular Front and the political situation in Moscow after the suppression of the uprising of imperialist forces, on August 30, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of State Independence of Azerbaijan, decided to prepare and adopt a Constitutional Act on State Independence, and on October 18, 1991, the Constitutional Act on State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan was adopted and state independence of Azerbaijan was restored.
A. Elchibey evaluated the place, role, and importance of the establishment of the independent Azerbaijani state in the history of our people as follows: “The Republic of Azerbaijan, which is the main achievement of the National Liberation Movement at this stage, is the main condition and means of the further success of the movement. That is, the fate of the south, as well as other countries, depends decisively on the fate of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Republic of Azerbaijan is the national and political wealth of every Azerbaijani, regardless of the state in which he/she lives. This idea should dominate the minds of every Azerbaijani. The source of our victory is the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is strong and developed, provides a decent life for its citizens, and occupies a worthy place among the world powers.” The 30-year history of independence is clear proof of this evaluation.
The historic victory of the Azerbaijani people over the Armenian aggressors in the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020, the liberation of most of our occupied lands, the cessation of Armenian expansion, and the decisive crushing of Armenian fascism were possible due to the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Victory in the war of 2020 also demonstrated to the whole world the strength and potential of the Azerbaijani people as a nation-builder, state-builder, able to preserve, protect, and strengthen the state.
The Elchibey Institute congratulates our dear people on the 30th anniversary of the restoration of our state independence and firmly believes that just as it regained its independence and established an independent state, by taking full advantage of the opportunities and resources of being an independent state, through the path of Rasulzade-Elchibey, it will reach Azerbaijan, developed at the level of the most modern cultures, where democratic values and freedoms are established, and where its citizens live in guaranteed prosperity.
Source: Turan News Agency