Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan is marking the 20th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union.

Parliament speaker Oqtay Asadov told a special session of parliament on the anniversary of October 18 that Azerbaijan declared its independence during a complicated period.

"The state of war [over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh], the inexperience of the then-leadership, and chaos made it impossible for the country to overcome the complicated period…" he said. "Heydar Aliyev returned to power in June 1993 and laid the foundation of the country's economic-political development strategy," he said.

On October 18, 1991, Azerbaijan's Supreme Soviet adopted a constitutional act on Azerbaijan's State Independence. Some 258 of the 360 deputies voted to approve the declaration of independence; the remaining deputies either did not attend the session or abstained.

The document defined the Azerbaijan Republic as the legal successor to the Azerbaijan People's Republic that existed from 1918 to 1920.

On December 29, 1991, the issue of independence was put to a republic-wide referendum in which 95 percent of those who voted endorsed it.