87th anniversary of Turkish Republic celebrated in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 29 /Trend, T.Hajiyev/

Azerbaijan's capital hosted an event celebrating the 87th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. The event was held in the Gulistan Palace.

The Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic addressed the event. He spoke about the merits of the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. According to the Ambassador, during these 87 years, Turkey has achieved many successes - now Turkey ranks the 17th most powerful economy in the world and 2nd amongst the NATO countries with the strongest armies.

Then, Kilic spoke about the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations. According to him, the two countries enjoy true fraternal relations.
Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Abid Sharifov conveyed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's greetings and congratulations to the event participants. 

Deputy Prime Minister spoke about the bilateral relations. "We have achieved great successes in science, education, economy, culture and military fields. We must preserve this friendship, and shift it to the future generations," said Sharifov.

Then, Sharifov told about the statements by national leaders of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev regarding fraternal countries. He noted that the words by Ataturk "The joy of Azerbaijan is our joy and its grief is our grief" and by Heydar Aliyev "One nation, two states" will always serve as a basic principle in relations between the two fraternal countries. "We must make sure that these fraternal relations would be transferred to future generations, and they would always support each other," said Sharifov.

In 1914-1918, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War the victorious allies - England, France, Italy and Greece occupied a major part of Turkey. The Ottoman army officer Mustafa Kemal, who didn't put up with this occupation started national liberation movement in the Samsun city May 19, 1919.

The Ottoman government in Istanbul and the victorious allies signed the Treaty of Sevres, formalizing the fact of occupation of a major part of the Turkish territory May 11, 1920. Resistance forces, got together under Mustafa Kemal's leadership, not accepting surrender, began a liberation war against the invaders. A common mobilization was declared Sept.14, 1920. The liberation war ended with full victory of the Turkish people Aug. 30, 1923. Ankara was declared the capital of Turkey Oct.13, 1923. The Turkish Grand National Assembly declared Turkey as a republic Oct. 29.

After long-term discussions at the Lausanne Peace Conference, Turkey was recognized by world powers within the relevant documents. In accordance with the law on surnames, the Turkish Grand National Assembly gave Mustafa Kemal the surname Ataturk in 1934.