In 1989 the local residents took down the Soviet–Iranian border in then-Nakhichevan ASSR to reunite with Iranian Azerbaijanis.[5] On the same day, the first World Congress of Azerbaijanis took place in Istanbul.
The day was first promoted on 16 December 1991 by then-Chairman of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Supreme Assembly Heydar Aliyev. The various governments that have been in power since Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union have all marked that day.[6] Aliyev raised the issue before the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR to declare that date a holiday at state level. The holiday eventually gained a state status in 1992, with Abulfaz Elchibey's presidential decree.
^Vladimir Babak; Demian Vaisman; Aryeh Wasserman, eds. (2004). Political Organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan: Sources and Documents. Routledge. p. 85. ISBN1135776814.
