March 31 is commemorated in the Republic of Azerbaijan as the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, honouring the memory of the innocent victims as a result of the massacres committed by the Armenian forces in the first part of 1918 against the Azerbaijani people living in Baku, Shamahi, Guba, Zengezur, Karabakh and Nakhchivan.

The national leader of Azerbaijan, Haydar Aliyev signed a decree on 26 March 1998 in order to draw the attention of the international community to the tragic events of the near past and to symbolize all the massacres committed against the Azerbaijanis, 

Today the people and the Government of Azerbaijan pay tribute to the dear memory of the innocent victims and urge the world community to recognize these atrocious actions.

On this important occasion, we join our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters in commemorating with respect all the martyrs and reiterate that as the Turkic Council we will work with all our capacity to ensure peace and stability in our region and beyond.