Azerbaijani Ambassador to Mexico Mammad Talibov and his wife Kamala Talibova. Pulse News Mexico photo/Thérèse Margolis

By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

It was a day of absolute jubilation and unrestrained celebration for Azerbaijani Ambassador to Mexico Mammad Talibov and his wife Kamala Talibova when they hosted a diplomatic reception at the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel Polanco on Friday, Nov. 5, to commemorate the first anniversary of their reunited country after nearly three decades of occupation of a fifth of its territory by Armenian forces.

The afternoon reception, which included a lavish buffet of traditional Azerbaijani delicacies prepared by Talibova and some of the embassy staff, also doubled as a belated commemoration of Oct. 18, 1991, independence anniversary.

But the main objective of the event was the fêting of Azerbaijan’s first Victory Day anniversary, which paid tribute to the Nov. 8, 2020, end of that country’s 44-day Patriotic War, which finally liberated the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“It was those same children who were forced out of their native homes 30 years ago who returned as national heroes to reclaim the territorial integrity of our country,” Talibov told his guests.

“Today, we celebrate Azerbaijan’s Victory Day for the first time, not only to mark the liberation of our own lands, but also because that victory created new opportunities for the reestablishment of regional peace and cooperation.”

The ambassador said that through his government’s leadership and development efforts, the once-war-torn Karabakh region is now becoming a robust center of cultural and economic growth where the country’s long-displaced people can return and prosper.