An event dedicated to May 28 – Independence Day was held at Azerbaijan University. During the event, it was emphasized that the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) stands as one of the critical milestones in the history of Azerbaijan’s statehood. Its founding ideas, statehood principles, and national symbols played a crucial role in shaping the modern Azerbaijani state. Proclaimed on May 28, 1918, through the Declaration of Independence, this historic date is commemorated today as Independence Day.

The event, organized by the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), was opened with introductory remarks by Yusif Gasimov, Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs. The Vice-Rector noted that the founding of the ADR laid a solid foundation for the national liberation struggle of the Azerbaijani people. Despite enduring for only 23 months, the Republic firmly embedded the idea of independence into the nation’s genetic memory. Driven by this legacy, the Azerbaijani people maintained their resolve to fight for independence over decades, ultimately restoring state independence in 1991.

In his address titled “The First Democracy in the Muslim East”, Asif Pashayev, Dean of the Faculty of ICT, drew attention to the profound mark left by the ADR in history through the rapid reforms implemented within its short lifespan. The Dean noted that democratic state-building, the granting of voting rights to women, and progressive steps in foreign policy, education, and the legal system during the ADR period played a central ideological role in shaping modern Azerbaijani statehood.

Guest speaker, Republic history researcher, and Doctor of Sociological Sciences Afgan Valiyev delivered a comprehensive report titled “The Emigrant Life of the Founders and Leaders of the ADR”. In his presentation, he shared significant insights, including details omitted from his published works, regarding the ideological foundations and proclamation of the ADR, the political atmosphere of that period, the liberation campaign of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus and the liberation of Baku from occupation, the role of the ADR in statehood history, and the emigrant lives of the Republic’s founders and leaders. He highlighted that the historic tricolor flag, lowered from the Parliament building on April 28, 1920, upon the fall of the ADR, was entrusted to him by Azerbaijani emigrants who had lived in Turkiye, preserving it for many years to the present day. Returning this sacred relic, accepted by him with immense trust during his studies in Turkiye, to its homeland and the Azerbaijani state on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic became one of the proudest moments of his life. The preservation and return of this heritage to the Motherland serves not only as a historical milestone, but as unshakeable proof of national memory, statehood traditions, and enduring loyalty to the idea of independence.

Public Relations Department