A solemn ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani parliament has been held at Milli Majlis in Baku today. It was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The head of state is making a speech at the meeting.
Chairman of the Parliament Ogtay Asadov said in the article dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Azerbaijani Parliament that the Azerbaijani Parliament, 100 years ago, built its work on principles that are characteristic of democratic states.
For a period of just 17 months, the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) held 145 meetings, the last of which was held on April 27, 1920, the Milli Majlis head recalls.
More than 270 bills were submitted to the parliament’s discussion, about 230 of which were adopted. "The laws were adopted only after the third reading, and the legislative acts covered various spheres of state and public life. The laws 'On Azerbaijani citizenship', 'On the establishment of the National Bank' and a number of other laws were adopted, state attributes - national anthem and flag of the republic – were approved, a contest was announced in connection with the creation of the state coat of arms," the article reads.
For the first time, the ADR parliament announced the Azerbaijani language as a state language, and a special law was adopted in this regard. "Women in the ADR were among the first ones in the world to be given the right to vote, and this happened for the first time in the East. The parliament paid serious attention to the development of economic, trade and other ties with neighboring countries," Asadov noted. "The laws and decisions adopted in parliament played an important role in determining the main directions of the government’s activity," the article stressed.
As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan regained its independence. "The events that took place in the first years of independence almost repeated the events that took place in 1918-1920 - Armenian aggression, provocations of foreign states against Azerbaijan were of the same nature. Azerbaijan faced serious problems and was in a desperate situation," the head of Milli Majlis noted. "In 1993, the great leader Heydar Aliyev, who prevented the split of Azerbaijan, and saved it from the tragedies, returned to the leadership of the country. The four months, during which Heydar Aliyev headed the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, played an important role in the development of parliamentary culture in our country, helped determine the directions of the formation of a modern professional parliament," Asadov pointed out.
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, congratulated the Azerbaijani colleagues on this significant date. "I want to congratulate my friend Oktay Sabirovich Asadov and all the Milli Majlis deputies on the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani parliament and wish the Azerbaijani MPs and the hard-working people of Azerbaijan health, good luck and love," he said.
