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AzerNEWS Staff

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There are certain events in the history of mankind that do not declare their presence. They come in the form of one decision made under immense pressure that produces its fruits only decades later, much after the pressure subsides and the chaos is forgotten. June 15, 1993, was such an event in the life of Azerbaijan.

By virtually any definition, the republic was in crisis. It had broken away from the Soviet Union two years ago, yet what it received in return for independence was a series of catastrophes. Twenty percent of the Azerbaijani territory was under the control of Armenians. Over a million individuals had become refugees. There was no money in the coffers. Governments came to power and then quickly fell. Militias roamed free outside government control. At best, it could be said that there was anarchy without a state.

Into this disorder stepped Heydar Aliyev. He had governed Soviet Azerbaijan for over a decade, been a member of the Politburo in Moscow, and understood, as few in Baku then did, that political power is not taken by proclamation but built through institutions, alliances, and the slow accumulation of trust.

What was saved was the chance for a future, a future that Azerbaijan would now need to make happen, mostly on its own.

Stability came soon after, swiftly achieved. The internal fighting had been tamed. There was a ceasefire agreement on the Karabakh front, which allowed them some breathing room. In September 1994, there was the signing of the famous "Contract of the Century", a contract that did more than tap into the potential of Azerbaijan's oil fields; it made them a permanent part of the international community in ways that military triumph never could. Heydar Aliyev knew that in today's world, the defense of sovereignty happens in board rooms, pipelines, and economics. He made all three happen.

The handing over of power from Haydar Aliyev to Ilham Aliyev in 2003, in hindsight, did not constitute a break in the project but was merely its continuation under altered circumstances and by different means. If for the father it was all about staying alive, for the son it was a matter of making things happen. Old infrastructure was renovated, and new governance systems and institutions were established. The country's armed forces were also rebuilt with an intensity and dedication that would only reveal themselves later, in forty-four days in late autumn of 2020.

The Second Karabakh War was no deviation from the course charted by Aliyev back in 1993. It was the realization of his dreams and aspirations, an affirmation that the state-building project he had embarked upon had finally borne fruit and that Azerbaijan had become strong enough to survive and win. This was, indeed, the end of the occupation and, more importantly, the end of the frozen conflict.

The commemoration known as National Salvation Day holds a distinctive characteristic among all other commemorations in that it is a day not to celebrate victory but liberation. The victory that is celebrated on this occasion is not a victory by any one nation over another but by a return to sanity from chaos, order from disorder and statehood from anarchy. There is nothing for us to defeat and celebrate as enemies on this particular day. All there was was just emptiness.

Consciousness, perhaps, is the greatest political legacy of that day. This is what defines the unique character of Azerbaijani foreign policy, its multi-vectored and non-aligned nature, as well as its aversion to any sort of dependency. Azerbaijan today is not only an energy exporter to sixteen countries; it has also been able to enter into a peace treaty with the White House. Such a change has not occurred accidentally over time. It took a very conscious and deliberate effort on the part of this country for more than three decades.

June 15 is a reminder of where the road began. And of how far, and at what cost, it has been walked.