NOVRUZ HOLİDAY

 Novruz holiday is a holiday related with the far past of our people. 40-days preparations are made for this holiday. This day spring comes,and day equals with night. Novruz means new day,reviving of nature. One of the main characteristics of this holiday is that cleansing works are done everywhere,trees are planted. Everyone congratulates each other and wishes prosperity on the 21st of March. At the spring holiday children fight with colored eggs,throw caps to the neighbours’s doors and hide,and ask for holiday shares. Braves ride horses, wrestle, fight with swords, throw lasso. This holiday is spent in different parts of our country more interesting than in the others. Every year the leader of our country spends this holiday with our people. He listens to childrens’ songs, poems,meets the people,and congratulates everyone.

RAMAZAN HOLIDAY

    Ramazan holiday has an important place among Islamic religious holidays. The history of this holiday starts from the second year of Hijri calendar (623 B.C.). As a fast is kept during Ramazan month, it is called the “Ramazan fast”. Ramazan month is considered to be the brightest, and the holiest month in Islam. They call it “the king of 11 months” too, as our holy book the Koran was sent down in one of the nights of this month. This night is called “gedir” or “ehya”.
Muslims spend their most important devotions oruj and hajj, Kurban holiday, according to the lunar calendar.
Ramazan holiday is the month of fast, purity of person’s flesh, improvement of mistakes and bad-behaviors, depuration of mind, belief, and will. Person goes from mistakes to purity, from purity to perfection with the help of prayers and devotions of this month. This is the month of development of soul, of it’s flying towards God. It’s like mortal creatures come into a battle-field in this month. Belief and flesh fight in this field. Flesh wants to defeat every deed of belief, and the continuation of bad habits. Beliefs bravely come against it, the tongue moves away from lie, the eye and the soul from sin.
The fast gives people an opportunity to verify their will and stamina, and invites them to purity and generosity. During the period of Soviet government the fast was forbidden as well as all the other Islamic holidays and devotions. But religious people obeyed their duties secretly, despite all prohibitions.
On reestablishing the state independence of people of Azerbaijan, the liberty of conscience was restored, and the attitude to Islam, its rules and devotions changed. The Fast Holiday started to be celebrated on a state level after the acceptance of the state law on “The National Holidays of the Republic of Azerbaijan" on October 27, 1992.

28 MAY REPUBLIC DAY

Our people have always aimed for independence. Russian empire wanted to keep our people under submission, and Azerbaijan as a part of it. A government with Armenian Shaumyan at the top was established in Baku. Russia used to peculate the riches of Azerbaijan. Shaumyan caused many slaughters in our cities and villages. The way out in this situation was struggling against foreign invaders and setting our motherland free. The only way to freedom is independence. Establishing a free country and bringing people its wealth back was this way travelers’ main goal. On the 28th May of 1918, the independent republic of Azerbaijan was declared. The government firstly set in Tiflis moved to Ganja, and then to Baku. Armenians were continuing their miserable politics at that time. They were bringing up territory pretensions to our country from one side, and were fulfilling slaughters from the other. Armenians’ betrayal was going on. They were spinning a new web against our people. XI Red Army was directed to our motherland with the help of black forces in Azerbaijan. In the April of 1920 the Republic of Azerbaijan collapsed. Only after 71 years in 1991 people of Azerbaijan reestablished its independence again. After becoming independent the Republic of Azerbaijan declared itself as the heir of Democratic Republic established in the beginning of the century. Now every year our people spend the 28th of May as a Republic Day.

JUNE 15, NATIONAL DAY OF SALVATION OF AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan got its independence in October 1991. The first years of the independence are characterized by the crisis within the country and in the government. Chaos occupied all the spheres of the social life. The case was harder in the army, increased the quantity of desertion. Armenian increased their occupation day by day. Azerbaijan remained without a head. Separate individuals and groups struggled among themselves for power in the young republic. National Front occupied the power of the state in May 14, 1992 and on the first days of its ill-determined ruling showed inability to lead the state. In 1993 Azerbaijan faced the danger of the civil war.
On such a hard period of time people invited the prominent son of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev from Nakhchivan to Baku. With the insistence of the people and the authorities of the republic he came to Baku in June 19.
In a short period of time Heydar Aliyev prevented civil war in Azerbaijan.
In June 15, 1993 Heydar Aliyev was elected the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan and this date entered our history as the day of National Salvation. With the insistence of the people in June 1997 Milli Mejlis (National Assembly) declared June 15 a holiday.

CONSTITUTION DAY

The 12th of November is the Constitution Day. In the 1995 the first Constitution of independent Republic of Azerbaijan was accepted by the national poll. Since that day November the 12th is accepted as the Constitution Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution is the main law of the state. This law regulates the work of the government, settles peoples’ behavior to each other and inside the society. The constitution provides citizens’ rights. The Constitution is the most important document declaring soil unity and independence of our republic.

SOLIDARITY DAY

The 31st of December is the Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis of the world. Thousands and millions of Azerbaijanis live in different parts of the world. They live not only in their motherland -the Republic of Azerbaijan (Northern Azerbaijan) and Iran (Southern Azerbaijan), but also in Turkey, Germany, France, Great Britain, Scandinavian countries, the USA and Near East countries, as well. There was a necessity in a planned set of relations between our nationals, and their more enthusiastic participation in deeds realized in the sake of profit of our motherland. That’s why the 31st of December was declared the Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis of the world, by the President’s of the Republic of Azerbaijan decree. This day is spent by the diaspora and societies of Azerbaijan in many parts of the world.

MARCH 8, THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN DAY

The 8th of March is the international day of solidarity of women in the struggle for economic, social and political equality. Celebration of the International Women Day adopted with the proposition of K. Setkin in 1910 at the 2nd International Conference (at Copenhagen) of the socialist women. The first countries celebrating this day were Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. In Russia this day was celebrated in 1913 and in 1917 in Azerbaijan. Till 1914 the International Women Day celebrated on different dates. Celebration of the Day on the 8th of March became a tradition after the women of Austria, Hungary, Russia, the USA and other countries started to celebrate the day of their solidarity on that date.
Since that time the 8th of March is the day of solidarity for peace in the world. It is not working day since 1965 when the former USSR declared the 8th of March to be a holiday.
Even after it gained the independence, Azerbaijan celebrates the 8th of May as the International Women Day.

GURBAN HOLIDAY

Gurban Holiday is related with prophet Ibrahim’s name. On this day people pray to God, and help poor. Sacrificing animals on that day is related with an event in prophet Ibrahim’s life. According to the legend God orders prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismayil to him. Prophet agrees with it in order to show all his love to God. Ismayil was ready to be sacrificed, as well. It was written about this in the Koran, too. On Gurban holiday every rich Moslem has to make a sacrifice and to distribute it among poor. The sacrifices made in the sake of God show that we are ready to endow with everything we have on his way. Therefore, we learn to sacrifice and to be sacrificed in the sake of our motherland and other holy values.
On the holiday everyone congratulates his elders and relatives, says good words, gives sacrificial shares, poor’ coppers boil, children’ faces laugh.
During the Soviet period in our country this holiday used to be spent secretly. As a result of the politics determined by the builder of the independency of our country Heydar Aliyev, our people spend Gurban Holiday and other holidays in a top level.
Our president Ilham Aliyev in his appeal to the people of Azerbaijan says that, Gurban devotion is the symbol of love and subjection to High Creator, and respect to lofty moral values. Reminding that Gurban holiday is the holiday of generosity, mercy, and charity, our President gives his graters to all people of Azerbaijan, to our nationals living in different parts of the world, and congratulates their Gurban Holiday.