Azerbaijan Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov (center) speaks at its conference held at S. Korea's National Assembly on Nov. 19, 2018 to celebrate its 100th anniversary of nation's establishment. At right is Rep. Na Kyung-Won of National Assembly.

"Conference and Photo Exhibition" dedicated to 100 years anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was held on Nov. 19, 2018 at South Korea's National Assembly in Seoul co-hosted by the Azerbaijan Embassy in Seoul and by the Korea-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Among the participants in the event were members of the National Assembly, heads of mission of the foreing countries in Seoul and other diplomatic members, professors and students of local universities, representatives of the local South Korean news media.

While addressing the conference Azerbaijan Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov stated that declaration of independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was adopted on May 28, 2018 and ADR as the first parliamentary democracy with a republican form of governance in the Muslim world was also the first model of a democratic secular state based on the rule of law all over the East.

Rep. Na Kyung-Won of National Assembly of South Korea

He also mentioned that, despite its short existence, the estimable process of nation-building resulted in the implementation of political-economic reforms, establishment of democratic institutions, issuing national currency, establishing national bank, army building, and adoption of state attributes, and particularly the national anthem and the national flag.

Although the red army invaded Azerbaijan on April 28, 1920, the idea of a free Azerbaijan never wavered. In its short period of existence the ADR returned national consciousness to the Azerbaijani people. And following the collapse of Soviet Union, Azerbaijan regained its independence on Oct. 18, 1991.

In his speech the envoy also emphasized the high-level bilateral relations between the legislative bodies of two countries, visits and meetings between parliamentary speakers, contributions of inter-parliamentary friendship groups.

Among the South Korean lawmakers present at the event were Mr. Lee Myoung Su and Madam Na Kyung-Won. Lee is serving as president of the Korea-Azerbaijan Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group.

They both delivered a speech at the conference, emphasizing the importance of holding such a significant event at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

They mentioned the development strategy of the modern Azerbaijan, recent achievements, sharing their views on development perspectives of Korea-Azerbaijan relations.

Mr. Lee Kwang-Chul, the first ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Prof. Oh Chong-Jin of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, made the presentations, respectively, on the bilateral relations of the two countries.

In their presentation they both shared their views on short history of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, achievements of modern Azerbaijan, briefly mentioning the historical and cultural similarities binding Azerbaijanis and Koreans.

The closing session of the conference was concluded with the presentation of the documentary “Lifelong Mission,”a story of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919.

The delegation was led by Alimardan Topchubashov, then speaker of Parliament of the first Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920). He also served as foreign minister.

The documentary was filmed by the Baku Media Center with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Ms. Arzu Aliyeva, the chief producer of the film.

All the participants had a chance to watch the photo exhibition at the main corridor of the National Assembly Members Building. The exhibition was dedicated to the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The photos on the exhibition also show the reflections of modern Azerbaijan.