Public holidays in Azerbaijan

There are several public holidays in Azerbaijan. Public holidays were regulated in the constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR for the first time on 19 May 1921. They are now regulated by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.^[1]

Holiday in an Azerbaijani village, 1930s. Work by Azim Azimzade.

Holidays

Main holidays

Date	English name	Azerbaijani name	Remarks
1–2 January	New Year's Day	Yeni il	2 days
20 January	Martyrs' Day	Qara Yanvar (Klirneri Or)	Commemorates Black January (1990) when Soviet troops entered Baku and killed more than 130 civilians.[2]
8 March	Women's Day	Qadınlar günü	1 day
20–24 March	Spring Festival	Novruz / Mor Kuneli Or	5 days
9 May	Victory Day over Fascism	Faşizm üzərinə qələbə günü	In honor of victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany during World War II.
28 May	Independence Day	Müstəqillik Günü	Founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (1918).
15 June	National Salvation Day	Azərbaycan xalqının Milli Qurtuluş günü	Parliament invited Heydar Aliyev to Baku to lead the country (1993).
26 June	Azerbaijan Armed Forces Day	Azərbaycan Respublikasının Silahlı Qüvvələri günü	Commemorates the founding of the Azerbaijani National Army on this day in 1918.
8 November	Victory Day	Zəfər Günü	Commemorates the Azerbaijani victory in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war as well as in the Battle of Shusha. It is a non-working day.
9 November	State Flag Day	Dövlət Bayrağı günü	Commemorates the adoption of the Flag of Azerbaijan on November 9, 1918,[3] which was officially established on November 9, 2009, as the State Flag Day.[4]
31 December	International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis	Dünya Azərbaycanlılarının Həmrəyliyi günü	Inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the nationalist Popular Front of Azerbaijan called for and lead the removal of borders between Soviet Azerbaijan and Iran on December 31, 1989. This has since been celebrated by Azeris around the world as the International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis.[5]
Changes due to the Islamic lunar calendar	Eid al-Fitr	Ramazan Bayramı	2 days
Changes due to the Islamic lunar calendar	Eid al-Adha	Qurban Bayramı	2 days

Other observances

National days in Azerbaijan that are working days follows:

• 30 January – Day of Azerbaijani customs
• 2 February – Day of Youth in Azerbaijan^[6]
• 11 February – Day of Revenue Service
• 26 February – Khojaly massacre commemoration day
• 5 March – Day of Physical Culture and Sport
• 23 March – Day of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
• 28 March – Day of National Security
• 10 April – Day of the builder
• 10 May – Flower Festival
• 2 June – Day of Civil Aviation
• 5 June – Day of Reclamation
• 18 June – Human Rights Day
• 20 June – Day of the gas sector
• 2 July – Day of Azerbaijani Police
• 9 July – Day of the employees of the diplomatic service
• 22 July – National Press Day in Azerbaijan
• 1 August – Day of Azerbaijani language and alphabet.
• 2 August – National Day of Azerbaijani cinema
• 15 September – Day of Knowledge
• 18 September – Day of National Music
• 20 September – Day of Azerbaijani Oil / Oil Workers' Day^[7]
• 27 September – Memorial Day
• 1 October – Day of prosecutors in Azerbaijan ^[8]
• 13 October – Day of Azerbaijani Railway
• 18 October – Independence Restoration Day
• 6 November – Day of Baku Metro Employees
• 12 November – Constitution Day
• 17 November – National Revival Day
• 22 November – Day of Justice of Azerbaijan
• 6 December – Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan
• 12 December – Memorial Day of Heydar Aliyev
• 16 December – Day of Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations

Religious days

Only the holidays of Ramadan and Qurban remain as non-working religious days in Azerbaijan, as the country is highly secular and irreligious.^[9][10] The religious population of the country, mainly in Nardaran and a number of other villages and regions, celebrate the Day of Ashura, a Shia mourning day in the Islamic calendar. Religious minorities of the country – mainly Orthodox Christians and Jews - also celebrate notable religious days of their faith.^[11] Despite the fact that the holiday Novruz takes its roots from the religion of Zoroastrianism, almost all Azerbaijanis celebrate it as a holiday of spring.

References

1. "Constitution of Republic of Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
2. Esslemont, Tom (20 January 2010). "BBC News – Azerbaijan remembers Martyrs' Day". BBC Online. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
3. "Azerbaijan marks National Flag Day". Today.az. November 9, 2012. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
4. "Azerbaijan sets National Flag Day". Today.az. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
5. "Breaking Down The Azerbaijani-Iranian Border". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2009-12-29. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
6. 2 February-Youth Day in Azerbaijan
7. "Azerbaijan marks Oil Workers' Day". news.az. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
8. "Azərbaycan :: Baş səhifə". www.azerbaijans.com. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
9. "South Travels – Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
10. GALLUP WorldView – data accessed on 17 january 2009
11. Azerbaijan's Udin ethnic minority celebrates Easter.

External links

• Holidays of Azerbaijan (in English)