Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan

By Vestnik Kavkaza

On May 28, Moscow saw a celebration of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. On this occasion, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation held an event in the shopping center "Yevropeyskiy". Ambassador of Azerbaijan Polad Bul-Bul oglu opened the event. He congratulated all those present on the auspicious occasion.

"On May 28, 1918 the decree on the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was signed. Today, Azerbaijan, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, is rapidly developing. Today, Azerbaijan became a member of the Security Council - even if not permanent, but, nevertheless, only a few years ago it was hard to imagine that our country will be a member of the Security Council of the highest international organization in the world. And there are a lot of other successes. This year is very important for us. This year presidential election will be held. I am sure that the wise people of Azerbaijan will make the right choice,"  Polad Bul-Bul oglu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Russia, said.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin said that the celebration of the Day of Republic of Azerbaijan has become a tradition of social and political life of Russia: "We believe that our relations, which are of a centuries-old character, are maintained by a magnificent tradition of friendship and mutual respect. It is well known that the trade turnover this year was a record - it exceeded all known figures of the past years and was somewhere around $ 3.5 billion. This is a good result. I am convinced that during this holiday, the day of the republic, we should give a toast to the prosperity of the friendly people of Azerbaijan and wish them every success in the development of their own state, economy and people's lives."

The culmination of the evening was the performance of the participant of Eurovision 2013 Farid Mammadov, who came second in the competition. Prominent representatives of political circles, artists, workers of the diplomatic corps came to congratulate friendly Azerbaijan on the holiday. "For every Russian citizen the holiday of Azerbaijan is his personal holiday, I think. Because when our neighbors live in prosperity, when we realize that the Azerbaijani people today, all people who live in the territory of Azerbaijan are developing very actively and dynamically, for Russians it is really a joy. We live side by side with the Azerbaijanis in Russia, in Russia there are many representatives of this wonderful nation. Therefore, this celebration is very close to us, and we fully share it,"  Michael Shvydkoj, special representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation, said.

Outstanding actor Lev Durov told about his ties with Azerbaijan: "I've been there often, and I know Baku very well. But it struck me that this time I came and felt that I did not know the city. This is another city. It became a world-class city. We were received by the minister of culture, and he said that in the city children can go for a walk at 12 o'clock at night without their parents, and it shocked me, because Moscow is much more aggressive and tough. We cannot afford it. Azerbaijanis revere symbols and the president, one is not surprised at Aliyev's portraits on the streets, it's natural."

Mikhail Gusman, first deputy general director of ITAR-TASS, said that "every day I get up and go to sleep with the thought that Azerbaijan should prosper and become more attractive, that people will live better, live peacefully, and Azerbaijan will fully realize all that is written down in the decisions of the United Nations about the Karabakh problem."