On the eve of anniversary of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) Municipality of the American city Portland (Maine) adopted a resolution recognizing the historical fact - occurrence of Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan - the first in the history of secular parliamentary republic in the Islamic world.

It is noted in the document that the Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed on May 28,1918, stretching from the Caucasus mountains in the north to the Araz river in the south, Caspian Sea in the east to Kerki in the west, included Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan regions, and became the first secular Muslim parliamentary democratic republic in the history of the world, and was recognized as such by other democratic nations of the time, including the United States of America.

The resolution also provides a link to the memories President Woodrow Wilson, who met with the Azerbaijani delegation in Paris on May 28, 1919, the one-year anniversary of Azerbaijan's founding, and later remarked, "Well, one day there came in a very dignified and interesting group of gentlemen who were from Azerbaijan.... I did find this out immediately: that I was talking to men who talked the same language that I did in respect of ideas, in respect of conceptions of liberty, in respect of conceptions of right and justice"

The resolution also stresses that the territorial integrity, state sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan is unconditionally supported by the United States which proves the absurdity and stillbirth of recently adopted anti-constitutional resolution of Rhode Island, calling the U.S. president to recognize the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic."

Every year for the last 94 years, an estimated 40 million Azerbaijanis around the globe and 400,000 Azerbaijani-Americans, have been celebrating May 28 as the National Day of Azerbaijan, the resolution said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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