Azerbaijan left the USSR and declared its independence again on October 18, 1991.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs celebrated the 35th anniversary of Azerbaijan regaining its independence.
The Ministry wrote on its NSosyal account, "Happy 35th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of brother Azerbaijan!" He shared.
IT TOOK ITS PLACE IN HISTORY AGAIN AS AN INDEPENDENT STATE ON 18 OCTOBER 1991
Independence in Azerbaijan was declared by the National Council headed by Mehmet Emin Resulzade on 28 May 1918. The country took its place on the stage of history as an independent state again on October 18, 1991, after being occupied by the Soviet Union after a short two-year period.
Even though Azerbaijanis lived under Soviet rule for 70 years, they did not forget that they once had a state that was considered the first democratic republic of the East, granting equal rights to all citizens regardless of race, religion, sect and gender.
The massacre of women and children committed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) army in Baku and other provinces on January 20, 1990 completely shook the Azerbaijani people's trust in the USSR administration and accelerated the process leading to the country's independence.
A declaration declaring independence was accepted in the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, which was the parliament of the period, on August 30, 1991. In September 1991, sessions were held to discuss secession from the USSR and declaring independence. The "Constitutional Act on State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan" was adopted by majority vote in the Supreme Council on October 18, 1991. The document stated that the Soviets were the occupiers and Azerbaijan was declared the heir of the republic established in 1918.
The decision of the Supreme Council was put to a referendum on 29 December 1991. In the referendum, almost all of the people voted for independence.
Azerbaijan has developed its economy and strengthened its army over the past 35 years. It has increased its relations with sister country Türkiye to the level of strategic cooperation and become a regional actor with the energy and transportation projects it has carried out.
Today, it is no longer a country with limited economic opportunities and losing its lands, but a strong Azerbaijan, whose influence is increasing in the region and in the world, whose economy is growing, and which saved its lands from occupation.
OCCUPATION AND RESCUE PROCESS OF KARABAKH
In the first years of its independence, Azerbaijan faced Armenia's territorial claims and attacks.
Taking advantage of the political conflicts in Azerbaijan, Armenia occupied Karabakh and surrounding provinces in 1991-1993. As a result of the occupation, approximately 1 million Azerbaijanis had to leave their homeland.
Azerbaijan has been negotiating with Armenia for years through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the USA and France, to resolve the issue peacefully. After the negotiations failed and the Armenian army increased its attacks on civilian settlements, Azerbaijan resorted to exercising its right arising from international law.
Azerbaijan launched its counter-offensive operation on September 27, 2020, after Armenian forces opened fire on Azerbaijani civilian settlements. In this operation, which turned into a "homeland war" after a while, the Azerbaijani army saved its lands and ended the 30-year longing of its people.
The 2nd Karabakh War, which Azerbaijanis call the "Homeland War", lasted 44 days and ended on November 10, 2020, when Armenia signed the declaration accepting defeat.
The Azerbaijani army liberated 5 cities, 4 towns and 286 villages from occupation in 44 days, and in accordance with the signed declaration, the Armenian army had to leave the provinces of Kalbajar, Lachin and Aghdam.
In September 2023, the Azerbaijani army put an end to the presence of illegal armed forces on the country's territory with an anti-terrorist operation in the Karabakh region. Thus, Azerbaijan completely ensured its territorial integrity and established its sovereignty over the entire country.
After this process, peace talks gained momentum again. At the summit in Washington, the parties took an important step towards permanent peace by initialing the text of the peace agreement.
AZERBAIJAN'S OIL AND NATURAL GAS PROJECTS
The foundation of Azerbaijan's economic development was laid when former President and National Leader Heydar Aliyev signed the "Deal of the Century" with 11 companies from 7 countries, which envisaged the exploitation of the country's largest oil field, the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACHG) basin, and the extraction of oil to world markets.
Azerbaijan cooperated with Türkiye and Georgia to transport oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline was built.
Azerbaijan, whose oil production decreased to almost zero in the early 1990s, today sells oil and oil products to more than 30 countries.
During the period of President Ilham Aliyev, a breakthrough was made in the natural gas sector. The Southern Gas Corridor, consisting of the South Caucasus Pipeline, Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which enables the transmission of natural gas extracted from the Shah Deniz 2 field to Turkey and Europe, was built. Azerbaijani natural gas is exported to 16 countries today.
“ONE NATION, TWO STATES” ALLIANCE WAS ESTABLISHED WITH Türkiye
Türkiye was the first state to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan. The words "one nation, two states" used by the late President Heydar Aliyev for Türkiye and Azerbaijan became the basic principle in the relations between the two countries.
Building their relations on strategic alliance, Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, TANAP, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line.
In the 2nd Karabakh War, Türkiye and the Turkish people gave political and moral support to Azerbaijan. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "Azerbaijan is not alone." His statement prevented third powers from intervening in Azerbaijan's operation.
Erdogan and Aliyev signed the Shusha Declaration on June 15, 2021, taking the relations between the two countries to a higher level.
HE TAKES AN ACTIVE ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Azerbaijan, which established good relations with all neighboring and close countries except Armenia after independence, takes an active role in international organizations such as the Organization of Turkic States (TDT), the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and the OSCE.
Azerbaijan, which was a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the 2012-2013 period, held the term presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019-2023.
Azerbaijan hosted the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on 11-22 November 2024.
The 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13), organized by the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), was also held in Baku on 17-22 May 2026.
