President Serdar Berdimuhamedov sent heartfelt congratulations to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and all the fraternal people of the country on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Independence Day, which is celebrated today, the Information Program "Watan" of the Turkmen Television reported.

"Over the years, the Republic of Azerbaijan has achieved significant success in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas, improving the welfare of the people and increasing the country's authority in the international arena," the message reads.

Expressing his conviction that the relations between Turkmenistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, based on the principles of good-neighborliness, friendship and mutual understanding, will continue developing dynamically for the benefit of the bright future of our peoples, the head of state noted with satisfaction that over the past years fruitful mutually beneficial cooperation between the countries has reached a qualitatively new level.

Taking the opportunity, the head of Turkmenistan expressed sincere wishes of good health and happiness to President Ilham Aliyev, and peace, well–being and prosperity to the fraternal people of Azerbaijan.

On May 28, 1918, in Tbilisi, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was proclaimed by the Azerbaijani National Council, which lasted only 23 months after the Bolsheviks entered Baku on April 28, 1920.

After the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan regained independence, becoming the legal successor of the ADR of 1918-1920.

From 1991 to 2021 Independence Day was called Republic Day.

According to the Law "On Independence Day", adopted by the National Parliament on October 15, 2021 and approved by President Ilham Aliyev, changes have been made to the calendar of festive dates. Now Independence Day is celebrated in Azerbaijan on May 28, and Independence Restoration Day is celebrated on October 18. At the same time, Independence Day is declared a non–working holiday, and Independence Restoration Day is declared a working holiday.