Azerbaijan celebrates National Salvation Day

There are such big days in the fate of the Azerbaijani people, which paved the way for significant foundations and determined its future. The most important of them – June 15, is written in Golden letters in our history as the National Salvation Day. This day is not only an ordinary holiday on the calendar for the people of Azerbaijan, but it has a great social, political and historical significance. And the creator of this history is the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people – Heydar Aliyev, who played an exceptional role in preservation, strengthening and development of independence of Azerbaijan, had always relied on his people and was a support for them.

Great return

At the end of XX century, Azerbaijan took a historic opportunity to regain independence and very soon faced the threat of losing it again. In June, 1993, the crisis in government has reached the culminating point and the Republic was engulfed in chaos and anarchy. Reaching to the civil war level, the confrontation was directed not only against our national independence, but also to our nation. Thus, the years of 1991-1993 are remembered as a period of chaos and lawlessness. And all this was caused by the then leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, persons without leadership abilities, who were unable to assess political events, foresee the future, and were unable to find a way out even in an ordinary situation. The government failed to properly assess the events, lost its authority among the people day by day, and did not understand the essence of the ongoing processes.

The National Leader described this period of our independence as follows: "Azerbaijan is facing a great threat. On the one hand, internal forces that opposed the independence of Azerbaijan were active, and on the other, full independence of Azerbaijan – a country of important geostrategic significance possessing great natural resources, was not in the interest of some external actors. Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan that resulted Azerbaijan’s weakening, defeat, as well as internal strife and the struggle for power led the forces that came to power in June 1992 to leave a year later, the people themselves displaced them."

The continued occupation of Azerbaijani lands by the armed forces of Armenia, the gradual escalation of the political situation and the social condition of the Azerbaijani people that was deteriorating every passing day have brought about a need for a leader, who would save the country from this evil and guide them.

All citizens were convinced that the only person capable of leading the country that recently regained its independence, out of difficult situation was Heydar Aliyev. In fact, it was a call of the soul of the people. Being closely united around Heydar Aliyev, the people themselves wanted to decide their future.

Therefore, on June 9, 1993, the great leader Heydar Aliyev, responding to the people’s call, returned to Baku and saved country from a disaster. That day was literally a turning point in the fate of the country – an important step taken to the great salvation.

From recovery to development: the successful outcome of the wise policy

On June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan. Despite the big risk, the great leader bravely took the mission of saving people.

"My life and my activity will be devoted exclusively to preserving the independence of Azerbaijan and taking our country out of this difficult situation", said the National Leader, considering citizens' consent extremely crucial in solving the problems and stability in the country: "If there is no socio-political stability or a healthy socio-political environment in the Republic, there can’t be any question of a socio-economic program or solving problems."

Heydar Aliyev has defended the independence of our country with his saving mission, eliminated the socio-political crisis raging in the Republic and laid the foundations for development.

Thus, the tension and confrontation that lasted for many years subsided, and our Republic was secured from the threat of civil war and a split in the society.

Thanks to the tireless activity of Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan, which faced the dilemma of "to be or not to be", was transformed into a powerful state that year and started to look to the future confidently. On October 3, 1993, the National Leader was elected the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with an absolute majority of votes.

Today, the triumph of the ideology of national salvation is reflected in the sustainable development of our independent Republic, and Azerbaijan's reputation in the world is becoming more and more significant.

The political and socio-economic development observed in the country after the great leader Heydar Aliyev’s return to the power in the country has played a crucial role in strengthening our state and building a modernized society that ensured the strategic interests of our people. Thus, this important historical day is imprinted in the memory of the people as the Day of National Salvation and is celebrated as an official holiday by the decree of the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1997.