Republic Day – May 28th

Yesterday was a national holiday, celebrating the the anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.  Ali gives some info on his frontline blog:

On 28th of May, Azerbaijan marked 91th anniversary of its first republic. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic or ADR as known by its initials is considered the first democratic republic in Muslim East with a functional parliament and clean record of human rights.

It’s a really interesting post that I recommend you read if you’re curious about Azerbaijan.

UPDATE: In Nigar’s blog, she adds a bit more to the history of the ADR:

During two years of its existence ADR had to struggle for recognition in the World, including negotiations with W.Wilson, fight the Dashnaki and Bolshevik invasions as well as Irani resentment and, what is more difficult, brake inner prejudices of the centuries-old slaved Azerbaijani nation.

After only two years of independence we were slaved by Soviet Union again. According to Vladimir Lenin the invasion was justified by the fact that Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku oil. On April 28, 1920 we became Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.