Azerbaijan marks Alphabet and Language Day on August 1

August 1 is marked as Azerbaijani Alphabet and Language Day, Report recalls.

The commemorative day was established under a decree signed by National Leader Heydar Aliyev on August 9, 2001.

Heydar Aliyev signed the decree after the transition to the Latin-script Azerbaijani alphabet was fully completed in the country in August 2001. The use of the new alphabet was regarded as an important event in the socio-political life of independent Azerbaijan and in the history of its writing culture.

When the new Constitution of the USSR was approved in 1977, Heydar Aliyev opposed the absence of an article on the state language and maintained a principled position on the issue.

At the seventh session of the ninth-convocation Supreme Soviet, held on April 2, 1978, to discuss the draft Constitution of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and the results of its nationwide discussion, it was decided, at Heydar Aliyev's insistence, to amend Article 73. The amendment stated that the state language of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was Azerbaijani.

Heydar Aliyev signed decrees "On improving the use of the state language" on July 18, 2001, and "On establishing Azerbaijani Alphabet and Azerbaijani Language Day" on August 9 of the same year. On January 2, 2003, the law "On the state language in the Republic of Azerbaijan" entered into force under a decree signed by Heydar Aliyev. The law clearly defined the state's main responsibilities regarding the protection and development of the Azerbaijani language.

President Ilham Aliyev's January 12, 2004 order "On mass publications in the Azerbaijani language using the Latin script" envisaged annual preparation of a list of works to be published in Azerbaijani using the Latin script.

Orders were also signed on January 14, 2004, "On the publication of the Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia," and on December 30, 2007, "On approving the list of works by prominent representatives of world literature to be published in Azerbaijani."

President Ilham Aliyev approved the "State Program on the use of the Azerbaijani language in line with modern requirements amid globalization and the development of linguistics in the country" by an order dated April 9, 2013.

The program aimed to strengthen state support for the use and study of the Azerbaijani language in 2013-2020, ensure its use in line with modern requirements amid globalization, and improve linguistic research in the country. The document also provided for combining creative efforts to develop fundamental and applied research in key areas of linguistics and linking linguistic studies with the current problems of modern society.

The presidential decree "On measures to protect the purity of the Azerbaijani language and further improve the use of the state language," signed on November 1, 2018, continued the purposeful language policy founded by National Leader Heydar Aliyev and aimed at developing the Azerbaijani language.