Azerbaijan marks National Flag Day

ANKARA

Azerbaijan celebrated the 102nd anniversary of its national flag Monday after more than a month of gains in its efforts to liberate lands under nearly three decades of Armenian occupation.

In a statement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his congratulations on the occasion to Azerbaijan, with which Turkey acts in the international arena as "one nation, two states."

"Turkey will continue to stand by its Azerbaijani brothers and sisters until the glorious flag of Azerbaijan flies freely across the entire Upper Karabakh," Erdogan said.

Recalling the famous Azerbaijani poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh's definition of brotherhood between Azerbaijan and Turkey as “two sons of the same mother,” Erdogan said with the steps they have taken as two brotherly countries, they have shown the entire world that they are brothers not just in words but in deeds in all areas.

"With all our hearts and means, we support Azerbaijan's struggle to liberate its territories in Upper Karabakh, which has been under Armenian occupation for nearly 30 years despite UN and OSCE resolutions.

"The ancient Turkish city of Shusha was liberated on Sunday from the occupation and our belief and hope in a decisive victory has been further bolstered," he said.

“It is our desire and wish that Armenia, which has suffered a defeat against Azerbaijan’s heroic army, hand over the lands under its occupation to their true owners without further bloodshed, “ he underlined.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu celebrated the day on Twitter.

"Happy National Flag Day to brotherly Azerbaijan! The glorious Azerbaijani flag is waving again in the lands liberated by its heroic army. Live in happiness with your tricolor flag, dear AZERBAIJAN!" Cavusoglu said.

Azerbaijan's First Lady and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva also marked the day in a social media post.

"I congratulate all our fellow countrymen on the occasion of the National Flag Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Our hearts will always be filled with pride for our flag and Motherland! May our tricolor wave in the sky of the sovereign, powerful Azerbaijan forever!" she said on Instagram.

Jeyhun Bayramov, the country's foreign minister, hailed the day on Twitter.

"November 9 marks #NationalFlagDay in #Azerbaijan! On this remarkable occasion which coincidences with the most significant days in our history, we congratulate all Azerbaijanis! May our Flag wave over all liberated territories of Azerbaijan!" Bayramov said.

Azerbaijan marked the day following Sunday's announcement by President Ilham Aliyev on the liberation of Shusha, which has been under Armenian occupation for over 28 years.

Shusha, which was occupied by Armenian forces on May 8, 1992, is strategically important in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also known as Upper Karabakh, which is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. It is located on the road to Khankendi, the region's largest city.

Many people across the country marked the day by marching in the streets with Azerbaijani and Turkish flags and chanting the slogan "Karabakh is Azerbaijan."

The tricolor was adopted on Nov. 9, 1918 as the national flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) which existed for 23 months from 1918 to 1920.

- History of tricolor flag

Present-day Azerbaijan is considered the successor of the ADR, which claimed to be the first secular and democratic Muslim-majority country.

"The flag once raised will never fall!" became the motto of the country's independence struggle in the 20th century. They were the words of Mammad Amin Rasulzade, a statesman, prominent public figure and a founder of the ADR.

In 1991, when Azerbaijan regained its independence from the Soviet Union, the country's Supreme Council announced on Feb. 5 that the blue, red and green flag with an eight-pointed star and crescent would be the new republic's national flag.

On Nov. 17, 2009, President Aliyev signed a decree to declare Nov. 9 the National Flag Day of the country. The day was also declared an official holiday.