Baku, November 12, AZERTAC

An event dedicated to the “Constitution Day” has been held at the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee Academy. At the beginning of the event, the state anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played.

Delivering an opening speech in the event Gulu Novruzov, the head of the Academy, PhD in Law stated that the “Constitution Day” was a very important historical date among the most significant dates of Azerbaijan in terms of statehood, fate, future and development of the people. Mentioning that there were 5,000 national and ethnic groups in the world, the head of the Academy emphasized that only about 200 of them could build their own state. Recalling the fact that the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was celebrated in 2018, Gulu Novruzov stated that the Azerbaijani people had established their state 100 years before and they had a traditional history of statehood. Speaking about the importance of celebrating the “Constitution Day” as a holiday, the head of the Academy noted that it was important for young people to know the essence of this date. “Realizing the essence of this day is a great responsibility for each of us," he said. Gulu Novruzov stressed that the Constitution was considered as the main document of each country and noted that the overall legislative base of a country was directly related to its Constitution. He stated that it was very important for young people to possess skills, competence, mentality of state and statehood in order to ensure Azerbaijan to hold the decent place among world countries, to make it become a more developed country, be competitive and possess sustainable development.

Noting that the customs service bears a special mission to ensure security of the country, including national security, the speaker said the importance of such events at the Academy was very high. He emphasized that in order to make Azerbaijan hold a decent place in the world it was very important for young people, especially for the students of the State Customs Committee Academy importance to be knowledgeable, educated and to possess the ability of international competitiveness. Speaking about the invaluable services of national leader Heydar Aliyev in the preparation of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, Gulu Novruzov stated that today's comprehensive development of Azerbaijan was directly related to the name of the National Leader. Gulu Novruzov connected high dynamics of development of the country to the result of the political strategy of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Gulu Novruzov congratulated the students and staff of the Academy on "Constitution Day".

Elshad Nasirov, a teacher of the Academy delivered a speech on the topic "The Constitution is the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of every Azerbaijani citizen". Speaking about four adoption and changes of Constitution in Azerbaijan during the Soviet Union, the speaker noted that Azerbaijani language was identified as the state language in the fourth Constitution of Azerbaijan namely at the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

Elshad Nasirov recalled the adoption of the Constitutional Act on the Independence of Azerbaijan in 1991, noted that a special commission was set up in 1995 to draft the first national Constitution on the initiative of Heydar Aliyev. He said that, finally, on November 12, 1995, the first national Constitution was adopted by the people of Azerbaijan through a referendum. Considering separately the provisions of the Constitution, Nasirov underlined that the draft Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan had been prepared on the basis of the constitutional provisions of the democratic states. Elshad Nasirov assessed the amendments made to the Constitution of Azerbaijan in 2002, 2009, 2016 through a referendum as a necessity for the development of the country, which was rapidly integrating into the world economic space. Finally, he congratulated the Academy students on the occasion of the holiday.

At the end of the event a video clip devoted to the "Constitution Day" was screened.