Azerbaijan observes Sovereignty Day, celebrating liberation and unity

Today, September 20, Azerbaijan celebrates State Sovereignty Day.

As Caliber.Az recalls, this significant occasion is being marked for the second consecutive year, following a decree issued by President Ilham Aliyev on September 19, 2024.

Since the early 1990s, Armenia, in gross violation of the United Nations Charter, has pursued a policy of aggression against Azerbaijan. Through the use of military force, it occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised territory. Ethnic cleansing was carried out against Azerbaijanis both in Armenia itself and in the occupied territories. As a result of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Armenia, Azerbaijani cities and villages were destroyed, natural resources plundered, and the Khojaly massacre — one of the gravest tragedies of modern times — was perpetrated.

The 44-day Patriotic War, which began on September 27, 2020, in response to Armenia’s renewed acts of aggression and successive provocations, marked a turning point. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan defeated the Armenian military and achieved a historic victory. By liberating territories that had been under occupation for three decades, Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and ensured the enforcement of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched an anti-terrorist operation aimed at halting large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarming and withdrawing the remaining Armenian armed formations from its sovereign lands, and restoring the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan in these areas. The operation lasted just 23 hours and 43 minutes, during which the Azerbaijani army successfully completed all assigned tasks with remarkable professionalism.

As a result, the sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan was fully restored. Thanks to this decisive victory, which holds exceptional significance for the Azerbaijani people, the national flag of Azerbaijan now flies proudly over all sovereign territories of the country.

By Tamilla Hasanova