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International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis
International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis
Every year on 31 December Azerbaijan and other countries with Azerbaijani Diasporas celebrate International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis of the world. This holiday was first declared on 16 December 1991 by Heydar Aliev. Its official celebration day fell on 31 December.
It was 31 December 1989 when, the regional residents demolished the Soviet-Iranian border in the territory of Nakhichevan ASSR, and were the first for the period of several decades to reunite with their compatriots who lived in the territory of Iran. On that very day Istanbul hosted an opening of the First World Congress of the Azerbaijanis. These two memorable dates served as a reason to declare 31 December as International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis.
The main idea of this holiday is the unity and solidarity of the Azerbaijanis from all over the world, respect of national and spiritual values, as well as belongingness to the historical homeland; as per approximate data the majority of the Azerbaijanis live outside the territory of their historical homeland. Over 30,000 Azerbaijanis, several times the number of inhabitants of Azerbaijan itself, live in the territory of Iran, that is why International Solidarity Day is important as a symbol that in spite of long distances, the Azerbaijani people is still united.