Today.Az » Politics » Solidarity Day of World Azerbaijanis - nation's symbol of unity
31 December 2016 [00:01] - Today.Az
By Azernews
By Amina Nazarli
The last day of each year is special for Azerbaijanis
as on December 31 Azerbaijanis living across the world celebrate their
Solidarity Day.
Producing a symbol of unity this day brings together around
50-million Azerbaijanis scattered across the globe under the auspices of
national and spiritual values, as well as national history and culture.
On this occasion, President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the
world Azerbaijanis, voicing his confidence that their concerted activities
“will make us even stronger”.
“I do believe that concerted activities of all our fellow countrymen, their
invincible loyalty to native Azerbaijani soil will make us even stronger and
help us solve as soon as possible our only problem – the Armenian military
aggression – and restore our territorial integrity,” the president said in an
annual message to Azerbaijanis on the eve of the World Azerbaijanis Solidarity
Day.
The president said what happened on the frontline in the
wake of the Armenian military provocation in April proved that the Azerbaijani
armed forces are well ready to liberate the occupied lands anytime.
President Aliyev urged the world Azerbaijanis to unite and
resolutely protect national interests and wage a principled fight against
anti-Azerbaijani provocations in any part of the world.
The Solidarity Day was initiated by Azerbaijan's national leader,
former President Heydar Aliyev on December 16, 1993. In accordance with a
presidential decree, the last day of December is annually celebrated as a day
of Azerbaijani unity.
Later, Heydar Aliyev described it with the need for national
solidarity.
“After Azerbaijan
gained independence, Azerbaijanism as the leading idea, became the basic one
for the Azerbaijanis living both in the country and across the world. We should
unite around this idea," Aliyev said. "Azerbaijanism means preserving
national identity, national and spiritual values, and at the same time
enrichment them with universal values, as well as ensuring the development of any
person.”
About 50 million Azerbaijanis live in more than 70
countries, according to the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora.
Over nine million people live in Azerbaijan
and about 30 million ethnic Azerbaijanis reside in Iran. Turkey,
for example, is home for about 3 million, while Russia
is for almost 2 million Azerbaijanis and then follows Georgia, Kazakhstan
and Germany.
This is several times exceeds the number of people residing
in Azerbaijan, that's why the Solidarity Day is so important as a symbol of the
fact that, despite the great distance, the Azerbaijani people are still united.
This summer Baku
hosted 4th Congress of World Azerbaijanis joined by more than 500
representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations from 49 countries
to discuss the government’s role in solving the problems facing
Azerbaijanis abroad.
During the congress the participants exchanged their views
on duties lying ahead as to informing the world community of Azerbaijani
realities, use of modern methods and information technologies in raising
awareness, current problems relating to protection of Azerbaijanis’ rights and
freedoms, and possible solutions to these problems, youth’s involvement in
diaspora work, lobby-building and other issues.
The first Congress of World Azerbaijanis was held on the
initiative of national leader Heydar Aliyev in 2001. The second and thirds
congresses took place in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
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