On May 28th Azerbaijan marked the Day of Republic. On this date in 1918 the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic was announced. It existed by April 28, 1920. It was first Muslim parliamentary republic in the world built by European standards. Its three-color flag symbolized European character, Turkism and Islam. These colors are used in the flag of modern Azerbaijan.
On Monday Vladimir Putin congratulated Ilham Aliyev on the Day of the Republic, stating that “active political dialogue, progressive extension of the scale of mutually beneficial ties, deepening cooperation the CIS territory fulfill key interests of our nations and support of stability.” Representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora from all parts of Russia came to Moscow to celebrate the date. The ambassador of Azerbaijan, Polad Bul-Bul Ogly, and the deputy foreign minister of Russia, Frigory Karasin, congratulated the guests.
Polad Bul-Bul Ogly, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia
Dear friends, dear compatriots. Today our Diaspora in the Russian Federation is well-represented. We invited them all to Moscow for the holiday of the Republic. I would like to thank those who came from afar to this holiday, the holiday of their republic. Indeed, for all of us Azeris it is a big and, I would even say, sacred holiday. For us and for our country. During these long years many things happened. Both bad and good. But today Azerbaijan is a prosperous country that now proves to the rest of the world its tolerance, its good relations with neighbors and other nationalities. Today there are many ethnicities in Azerbaijan, the same as before, living in one big family. And we are proud of it. Today, on this good holiday, I cannot avoid mentioning the great Azerbaijani politician Heydar Aliyev. Our national leader, with whom I worked for 10 years as a Minister of Culture and witnessed all that was happening in Azerbaijan. A country that was on the verge of civil war was, step-by-step, day-by-day, year-by-year, turning into a prosperous country. Today, President Ilham Aliyev, faithful to the rules of our national leader, continues to lead the country forward. I would like to congratulate all Azeris on the fact that today our country is represented on the UN Security Council. We are now chairing it. This is the most respected organization that unites all countries in the world. Of course every Azeri is now proud that Azerbaijan is chairing the UN Security Council. Just two days ago the Eurovision contest took place in Baku. It was organized at the highest level. Believe me, I am a musician and I know how difficult it is to organize events like this, and even the representatives of the European Broadcasting Union say that there had not been a Eurovision like this before.
Grigory Karasin, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia
Our peoples are united by centuries of friendship and a common fate, one culture. Our states are united by the relations of strategic partnership. The strategic character of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation is written in the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security. This year we celebrated 20 years since diplomatic relations were established. I am glad that the line to develop Russian-Azerbaijani relations, initiated by the great politician Heydar Aliyev, is now confidently continued by the current government. Mutual respect between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan ensures the gradual strengthening of the partnership and neighborly cooperation in many different spheres. The scale of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation in the economic sphere grows every year. The mutual volume of trade has reached 3 billion dollars and there is potential for future growth, especially if Russian and Azerbaijani regions get actively involved in it. In this context, I consider the Third Russian-Azerbaijani regional forum that is due to take place on June 27-28 in Baku to be a very important event. Our priority now is increasing cooperation in the humanitarian sphere. The biggest current project that is widely recognized is the Baku International Humanitarian Forum under the patronage of the presidents of our two countries. We see our aim in promotion of this new prospect format in the context of searching for adequate answers to challenges and effective decisions of the 21st century.
I want to say separately about our diasporas. We deeply appreciate a special role of both communities in approaching our peoples. Our countries are full of resolution to provide further favorable conditions for preservation and development of cultural uniqueness and traditions in Azerbaijan and Russia. We are always happy with success of Azerbaijan which has gained deserved authority in the international arena due to its successful internal and foreign policy, significant achievements in the sphere of improvement of statehood and deep reforms in all spheres of life. We are satisfied that election of Azerbaijan into non-permanent members of the UN Security Council will contribute to peace, security, and stability improvement in the region. Russia wants to see Azerbaijan prosperous and open for cooperation in favor of peace and security of the countries. Our states successfully cooperate within various regional formats and are aimed at strengthening of security in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. The membership of Azerbaijan in the UN SC in 2012-2013 opened good prospects for extension of our effective dialogue. I am sure we can solve any targets that we face, if we are together.
