It appears that August 1 is a day of “Azerbaijani alphabet”. This day eight years ago Azeri replaced Cyrillic alphabet by Roman one, which is considered to be Azerbaijani alphabet today.

Roman alphabet was first adopted in 1918 under independent Musavat Azerbaijan.

After Soviet regime established in Azerbaijan, the alphabet was changed several times. Azerbaijan returned to Roman alphabet after USSR collapse, though Cyrillic alphabet was used in press for a bit longer.

Only in July 18, 2001 Heydar Aliyev signed a decree on shifting to Roman alphabet starting August 1, 2001. Under another decree August 1 was declared the “Azerbaijani alphabet” day.

It should be clarified with Ilham Aliyev asserting that Alexander the Great “did not dare to enter” the powerful Azerbaijan, what alphabet Azeris used since Macedonian time before 1918.