On May 27, the Department of International Cooperation and Foreign Students of Sumgayit State University and the Education Council of Turkey in Azerbaijan jointly organized a webinar entitled "The first democratic republic of the Muslim East - the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic" dedicated to May 28 - Republic Day.

Opening the webinar, SSU Vice-Rector for International Relations, Associate Professor Gafar Atayev greeted the participants and emphasized the historical words of our national leader Heydar Aliyev: “Azerbaijan and Turkey are two states and one nation”. He expressed satisfaction with the fact that the event was held jointly with the Education Council of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Azerbaijan and greeted Huseyn Altinalan, Press and Culture Adviser to the Ambassador of Azerbaijan, Dr. Nurbanu Bulgur, Lecturer of the Department of International Relations of Sakarya University, and Gul Banu Duma, Associate Professor of the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Bulent Ecevit University.

Rector of SSU Professor Elkhan Huseynov conveyed greetings and congratulations on the occasion of May 28 Republic Day to the participants of the event. He thanked Dr. Cahit Bagci, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to Azerbaijan, for hosting the joint event and gave the floor to Huseyin Altinalan, Press and Culture Counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Azerbaijan to greet the webinar participants.

In turn, the adviser thanked the SSU leadership for the proposal to hold such a joint event, greeted the participants, noted the high level of relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey in recent years, expressed satisfaction with the participation in the event and congratulated everyone on the holiday.

Then the floor was given to Professor Shirkhan Salimov, Head of the Department of History of the Peoples of Azerbaijan and Eastern Europe, Faculty of History and Geography, SSU, the main speaker of the webinar on "The first democratic republic of the Muslim East - the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic."

Prof. Salimov gave detailed information to the participants of the event about the establishment, activity, role, importance, collapse and restoration of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in the history of Azerbaijan.

Prof. Huseyin Altinalan, Press and Culture Counselor of the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan, spoke on "Azerbaijan-Turkey relations" and drew attention to the achievements in political, economic, humanitarian, military and other fields, based on historical roots and solidarity in brotherhood. He noted that currently the relations between the two countries are at a geostrategic level. He said that the Turkish people have always stood by Azerbaijan in the Karabakh issue, supported its cause, and the Turkish people rejoiced in the victory in the 44-day war as much as the Azerbaijani people rejoiced. No force can shake the Turkish-Azerbaijani unity. He also spoke about the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, as well as TANAP projects, which are important for both countries and the region.

Then, Professor Nurbanu Bulgur spoke on "International security policy in the period of Azerbaijan's independence", Gul Banu Duman, Associate Professor of Turkish Language and Literature at Bulent Ecevit University, spoke on "A turning point in Azerbaijan's foreign policy from 1918 to the present" and provided interesting scientific information. 

Afterwards Hamza Shahin, a fourth-year student of the Faculty of Philology of SSU, made a presentation on "Azerbaijan-Turkey brotherhood", Jeyhun Asgarov, a first-year master's student at the Faculty of History and Geography, made a presentation on "Turkey's role in protecting the independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic."

Assoc. Prof. Gafar Atayev thanked the speakers and said that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan had an unparalleled role in the development of Azerbaijan-Turkey relations, which have an ancient history based on friendship and brotherhood. . He noted that our people highly appreciate the comprehensive support of the brotherly country to our just cause for the liberation of the ancient lands of Azerbaijan.

Despite living in slavery in the Soviet Empire for many years, the Azerbaijani state regained its independence as a result of the historical conditions created by the collapse of the USSR in the late twentieth century. With the adoption of the Constitutional Act "On the State Independence of Azerbaijan" on October 18, 1991, our people regained the independence it lost in April 1920. He noted that the preservation of the independence of our state was connected with the return of national leader Heydar Aliyev to power on June 15, 1993, and once again declared to the world that the independence of our state is eternal and irreversible. Demonstrating its commitment to the ancient traditions of statehood, the Republic of Azerbaijan, being the political and spiritual successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, adopted its tricolor flag, coat of arms and anthem. The concept of independence of the national leader Heydar Aliyev unites the achievements of our country under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Thanks to the unity of the Azerbaijani people, the iron will of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the unshakable determination, the mighty soldiers of our Glorious Army, whose hearts are full of patriotism, we defeated Armenia in the 44-day war and liberated our lands from occupation. This year, we celebrate the Republic Day on May 28 with joy and pride in the context of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

At the end, everyone's holiday was congratulated on the occasion of the Republic Day on May 28, the event ended with slogans: “Once the flag is raised, it will never fall again !”, “Long live the people of Azerbaijan !”, “Long live the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev”, “Long live the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan!”, “Azerbaijan-Turkey brotherhood!”.