Photo report: Baku celebrates 100th anniversary of the first republic
Today marks 100 years since the proclamation of independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), and is an official national holiday.
Civil activists, journalists and members of the opposition staged a festive procession in Baku, which began at the memorial of the Declaration of Independence.
Several hundred people took part in the procession. A crowd descended on the seaside boulevard, but was stopped by a police cordon. Having failed to get to the boulevard, people turned to walking the streets in the center of the city instead.
At the official level, President Ilham Aliyev delivered a speech at the Heydar Aliyev Center.
A concert was held in the Baku Crystal Concert Hall in the evening. Entrance was by invitation only, though proceedings from inside were broadcast to the public on a large monitor on the boulevard. At ten o’clock in the evening a festive salute lit up the skies above Baku.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was founded on 28 May 1918 and lasted two years. In 1920 the Bolsheviks seized power.
