ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has extended the warmest felicitations to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and its fraternal people on their 29th Independence Day.
On a social media post, the premier paid tribute to Azeri forces who are valiantly defending their territorial integrity.
Pakistan stands with Azerbaijan in its quest to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as per United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, he expressed.
I extend warmest felicitations to @presidentaz & fraternal people of #Azerbaijan on their Independence Day. We pay tribute to Azeri forces valiantly defending their territorial integrity.
???????? stands with ???????? in its quest to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh issue as per UNSC resolutions— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 18, 2020
Azerbaijan first declared independence from the Russian Tsar under the chairmanship of Mehmet Emin Resulzade on May 28, 1918, but was occupied by the Soviet Union after a short period of two years.
In 1991, Azerbaijan re-established its status as an independent state on Oct. 18. Despite decades under Soviet rule, Azerbaijanis never forgot their heritage as the first democratic republic of the East, which granted equal rights to all citizens regardless of race, religion, sect and gender.
The Soviet Army’s massacre on Jan. 20, 1990 in Baku and other provinces completely shook Azerbaijanis’ confidence in the U.S.S.R., accelerating the process leading to the country’s independence.
On August 30, 1991, the Azerbaijani parliament, Ali Soveti (Supreme Council), adopted the Declaration on the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The constitutional act on the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved and adopted by the Supreme Council on October 18, 1991.
On December. 29, 1991, independence was affirmed by a nationwide referendum when the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist. October 18 has been celebrated as an independence day since 1992.
