Thirty years of Azerbaijan's independence marked without celebrations

The absence of celebrations of the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence suggests that authorities are belittling the significance of this event, Fuad Gakhramanly, the spokesman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has stated. During these 30 years, Azerbaijan has failed to become a democratic state, Nasimi Mamedli and Zardusht Alizade, political analysts, assert.

The restoration of the Azerbaijan's state independence was of historical importance for the nation, said Fuad Gahramanli, a member of the PFPA's Presidium. In his opinion, the current "callous attitude" to the anniversary is due to the fact that these authorities did not participate in the process of gaining independence by Azerbaijan in the late 1980s.

"Today, most citizens are indifferent to their own fate and the fate of the state; and the state machinery is based on a rigid vertical of power," Zardusht Alizade has noted.

For its 30 years of independence, Azerbaijan has failed to become a democratic state, Nasimi Mamedli, a political analyst, has noted, stressing that "the civil society is weakened; independent media are in disorder; and citizens' confidence in the state has been undermined."

In his opinion, the problem of political prisoners persists in the country; social problems are not solved; most of the intellectual youth are leaving the country. However, he called "the results of the second Karabakh war" to be the "main achievement of the past years".

Samira Babaeva, a nurse, had actively participated in the popular movement. However, according to her story, those who had no relation to the struggle for independence took advantage of the struggle results.