U.S. City of Albuquerque proclaims May 28 as ‘Azerbaijan National Day’

The City of Albuquerque of the U.S. State of New Mexico, proclaimed May 28, 2019 as “Azerbaijan National Day” in the city. The relevant proclamation was signed by the Mayor of Albuquerque Timothy M. Keller.

In the proclamation, which was sent to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, the City Mayor notes that “following the October Revolution in the Russian Empire, the Azerbaijani people established the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on May 28, 1918, which became the first secular democracy in the Muslim world.”

It also states that “the new democracy enacted many progressive reforms, including granting the right to vote to women in 1918, which made Azerbaijan not only the first majority-Muslim nation to empower women, but it also put the country ahead of many advanced nations of the time in championing women’s rights.”

The document stresses that since 1991, “the Republic of Azerbaijan has consolidated its freedom and independence, and has become one of the world’s fastest developing and modernizing countries, the largest economy of the region and the biggest U.S. trade partner in the South Caucasus.” It further mentions that the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the Republic of Azerbaijan and establish full-fledged diplomatic relations with it.

It also notes that “every year, millions of Azerbaijanis around the globe, including tens of thousands in the U.S. and many in the City of Albuquerque observe May 28 as Azerbaijan National Day, remember the contributions of their forefathers to the spread of democracy in the regions of Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East, as well as celebrate the remarkable achievements made by the Republic of Azerbaijan as a free and independent nation.

In the end, Mayor Keller proclaims May 28 to be the “Azerbaijan National Day” in the City of Albuquerque.