The national bank holiday was established last December by President Ilham Aliyev.
On Monday, 8 November, the streets of Baku received were full of a parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary since the Azerbaijani military retook control of Shusha. The city occupies a strategic location in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and is considered a cultural capital by Azerbaijanis.
Most of the streets of the capital were closed for the parade, which featured songs and marches performed by a military orchestra. The celebration also exhibited a 440-meter-long Azerbaijani flag, carried by cadets of the Higher Military School, and a cavalry division.
The march ended with a flash mob organized with the support of the Regional Development Public Union.
The 44-days War between Azerbaijan and Armenia for the control of Nagorno-Karabakh started in September 2020. Human rights organizations have determined that both sides committed war crimes during the fighting. A ceasefire intermediated by Russia was agreed on 10 November 2020. The agreement included the return of Armenian occupied territories to Azerbaijan and the presence of Russian peacekeepers stationed in the Lachin corridor.
