I | INTRODUCTION |
Azerbaijan, republic in western Asia. Azerbaijan is
the easternmost country in the South Caucasus (the southern portion of the
region of the Caucasus), which occupies the southern part of the isthmus between
the Black and Caspian seas. The country is bordered on the north by Russia, on
the east by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Iran, on the west by Armenia, and
on the northwest by Georgia. Azerbaijan also shares a short border with Turkey
through its autonomous exclave of Naxçivan (Nakhichevan), which is separated
from the rest of Azerbaijan by a mountainous strip of Armenian territory.
Azerbaijan includes the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly
Armenian-inhabited enclave in western Azerbaijan. In Azeri, the official state
language, the country is called Azarbaijchan Respublikasy (Azerbaijan
Republic). Baku, a large port city on the Caspian Sea, is Azerbaijan’s capital
and largest city
.
After a mere two years of independence,
Azerbaijan was invaded by the Bolshevik Red Army in 1920 and became part of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. In 1991 it became
independent again. The republic’s first years of renewed independence were
troubled by political upheaval, economic decline, and a war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Until a cease-fire agreement effectively ended the war in May 1994, Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh fought for secession of the enclave. In 1995 Azerbaijan held
its first legislative elections since independence and passed its first
post-Soviet constitution.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Azerbaijan covers an area of about 86,600 sq
km (about 33,400 sq mi). The borders of Azerbaijan generally correspond to
natural geographic features. The western coast of the Caspian Sea forms the
country’s entire eastern border, which extends about 800 km (about 500 mi). The
main stretch of the Caucasus Mountains, known as the Greater Caucasus, forms
part of Azerbaijan’s northern border with Russia and contains the country’s
highest peak, Mount Bazar Dyuzi (4,480 m/14,698 ft). The Greater Caucasus extend
into northeastern Azerbaijan and run southeast as far as the Abşeron Peninsula,
which juts into the Caspian Sea. In western Azerbaijan, the Lesser Caucasus
mountains attain heights of about 3,500 m (about 11,500 ft) and form part of the
border with Armenia. The Talish Mountains border Azerbaijan in the extreme
southeast.
A | Rivers |
Lower elevations are found along the
Caspian coast and in the river basins of the country’s two main waterways, the
Kura and Aras (Araks or Arax) rivers. These rivers, which form a continuous
lowland through central Azerbaijan, both originate in the mountains of
northeastern Turkey. The Kura flows into northwestern Azerbaijan from
neighboring Georgia and then follows a southeasterly course to the Caspian Sea.
The Aras forms part of Azerbaijan’s southern border with Iran and eventually
turns northeast to enter south central Azerbaijan; it then joins with the Kura
and also empties into the Caspian. The Kura and Aras are also linked farther
upriver by the Upper Karabakh Canal, which channels water from the Mingäçevır
Reservoir on the upper Kura in northwestern Azerbaijan, providing irrigation
water to farms in the central lowland and supplying the Aras during the dry
summer months. The reservoir, which was formed by a dam built in 1953, covers an
area of about 605 sq km (234 sq mi). Another canal in the east, the
Samur-Abşeron Canal, redirects water from the Samur River on Azerbaijan’s
northeastern border to the Abşeron Peninsula, an arid area where Baku, the
capital, is located.
B | Plants and Animals |
Forests of beech, oak, and pine cover 11
percent of the country, with most tree cover on the mountain slopes and in the
southeastern Länkäran Lowland. The subalpine forests support a number of mammal
species, including bear, deer, lynx, and wild boar. Leopards also inhabit the
forests but are rare. Reptiles, such as lizards and poisonous snakes, thrive in
the arid and semiarid lowlands, which constitute the majority of the country’s
territory. Gazelles, jackals, and hyenas populate the lowlands as well. The
Caspian Sea coast provides a mild winter home to populations of pelicans,
herons, flamingos, swans, and other migratory birds.
C | Natural Resources |
Azerbaijan contains many natural
resources, the most important being crude oil. Azerbaijan’s oil reserves are
located offshore, beneath the Caspian Sea, with most developed oil fields near
the Abşeron Peninsula. Mineral resources include iron ore, aluminum, copper,
lead, zinc, limestone, and salt.
D | Climate |
The lowlands of central and eastern
Azerbaijan have a dry subtropical climate, with relatively mild winters and long
hot summers. The average temperature in the lowlands in July is 27°C (80°F),
although summer temperatures can enter the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F); the
average temperature in January is 1°C (34°F). Summers are typically dry, with
most precipitation falling during the winter months. Humidity is high in the
Länkäran Lowland, which receives significantly more precipitation than other
areas of the country. Temperatures are colder in the mountains, and snowfall is
heavy at elevations of more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) during winter.
E | Environmental Issues |
Severe pollution from heavy industries and
agriculture has damaged the environment of Azerbaijan. The contamination of the
Caspian Sea from oil drilling in Baku has been a problem since the 19th century,
when the Russian Empire took control of the region and began to rapidly exploit
its oil reserves. Although oil production waned during the Soviet period,
petroleum waste was routinely dumped into the Caspian. The Caspian also suffers
from the discharge of untreated sewage, and pollution has depleted the sea’s
stocks of sturgeon. Severe air pollution is a problem in the major cities due to
emissions from petroleum and chemical industries. During the Soviet period,
dangerously high concentrations of pesticides and fertilizers were used to
increase Azerbaijan’s agricultural output. In the late 1980s, when environmental
awareness began to surface in the USSR, Azerbaijan’s high infant mortality rate
and high rates of infectious diseases were linked to the chemicals used in
cotton growing. Although the people of Azerbaijan are generally aware of the
need to protect the environment, the republic’s environmental issues have not
received significant attention from the government.
III | THE PEOPLE OF AZERBAIJAN |
Azerbaijan is more populated than the other
South Caucasus states, Georgia and Armenia. Its population was an estimated
8,177,717 in 2008, giving it an average population density of 95 persons per sq
km (246 per sq mi). The most densely populated area is the Abşeron Peninsula in
the east, where Azerbaijan’s major cities are located. Despite its larger
population, Azerbaijan is the least urbanized country of the South Caucasus, as
only 50 percent of its population lives in urban areas. The largest city is
Baku, the capital. Other important cities include Gäncä, the industrial center
of western Azerbaijan, and Sumgayıt, located on the Caspian coast and the second
most important industrial center after Baku.
A | Ethnic Groups |
Azerbaijan, including the autonomous
exclave of Naxçivan, is populated mostly by ethnic Azerbaijanis, who are also
known as Azeris. The ethnic composition of the country changed due to a civil
war between the government of Azerbaijan and Armenian secessionists in the
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Beginning in 1988, when the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
unilaterally decided to secede from Azerbaijan, nearly the entire Azerbaijani
population in Armenia fled to Azerbaijan and northern Iran, while many ethnic
Armenians in Azerbaijan fled to Armenia. The number of Armenians in Azerbaijan
decreased from slightly less than 6 percent of the total population to about 2
percent. Armenians now reside almost exclusively in the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave, where they constitute a majority. In the 1990s the proportion of
Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan increased from about 80 percent of the total
population to about 90 percent. This change was largely due to the civil war,
but the emigration of many Russians and other Slavs after the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991 also contributed.
Dagestanis and Russians are the largest
minority groups in Azerbaijan, followed by Armenians. Dagestanis, a people whose
traditional homeland is Dagestan, a republic of Russia on Azerbaijan’s northern
border, make up about 3 percent of the population. Russians constitute about 2.5
percent of the total (a reduction of about 3 percent since the 1989 census).
Other ethnic groups include Lezgins, Kurds, and Talysh, who are geographically
concentrated in the north, east, and south of the republic, respectively. There
are also small communities of Georgians, Ukrainians, and Avars. Most of the
republic’s ethnic groups have resided in the area for centuries, although
Russians arrived in large numbers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
B | Languages |
The official language of Azerbaijan is
Azeri, a Turkic language of the Altaic family that is closely related to the
Turkish and Turkmen languages (see Altaic Languages). Other languages
spoken in Azerbaijan include Russian and Armenian. Azeri originally developed in
the Arabic script, but in the 1920s a Latin (Roman) alphabet was introduced. In
1939 the Soviet regime mandated the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, the script of
the Russian language. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the government
decided to introduce a Turkish version of the Latin script. In 2001 a
presidential decree abolishing the Cyrillic script for official and business
purposes came into force.
C | Religion |
Azerbaijanis are traditionally Muslim.
Islam was introduced in the area of present-day Azerbaijan during the 7th
century ad, and Shia Islam was
established as the official religion of the Azerbaijanis in the 16th century.
During the Soviet period, religious leaders were persecuted, mosques were closed
or destroyed, and religious practice was officially condemned. Islam has
experienced a revival in Azerbaijan since the late 1980s, when political reforms
allowed most of the Soviet restrictions on religion to be lifted. Nearly all
Azerbaijanis now identify as Muslim, although few actively practice their
religion. About 70 percent of Azerbaijani Muslims are Shias, and about 30
percent are Sunnis. Christianity is practiced to varying degrees among the
Georgian, Armenian, and Slavic minorities.
D | Education |
Most adults in Azerbaijan can read and
write. The country’s high adult literacy rate was achieved during the Soviet
period, when an extensive, state-funded education system was developed. The
first eight years of education are compulsory, but most students complete the
full ten-year program of basic education, and many choose to continue their
education at secondary or vocational schools. Baku is the seat of most of the
country’s institutes of higher education, including Baku State University
(founded in 1919 during Azerbaijan’s brief initial period of independence),
Azerbaijan Technical University (1950), and Azerbaijan State Petroleum Academy
(1920).
E | Culture |
Azerbaijan’s cultural institutions,
located primarily in Baku, include the State Museum of Shirvan-Shakh, which
houses weapons and decorations from palaces of the khans (rulers), and
the State Museum of Azerbaijan Literature. The culture of the peoples inhabiting
eastern part of the South Caucasus developed during the ancient and medieval
periods under a predominantly Persian influence, although Turkic influences also
were present. Azerbaijanis contributed several notable literary and scientific
works during the medieval period. After Azerbaijan became part of the Russian
Empire in the early 19th century, Azerbaijani intellectuals such as scholar and
poet Abbas Qoli Agha Bakikhanov began the study of the Azeri language and
attempted to set up schools that would teach literacy. At times during the
Soviet period, artistic expression that conveyed any hint of Azerbaijani
nationalism was brutally suppressed.
Music has long been an important aspect
of Azerbaijani life. The ancient Azerbaijani musical tradition has been kept
alive by musicians known as ashugs, who improvise songs while playing a
stringed instrument called a kobuz. Other vocal and instrumental
compositions called mugams are also part of the oral folk tradition.
Modern Azerbaijani composer Uzeir Hajjibekov is known internationally for his
classical operas.
IV | ECONOMY |
The collapse of the Soviet Union had a
devastating impact on Azerbaijan’s trade-dependent economy. As traditional
markets and trading links were severed, Azerbaijan’s economy fell into severe
decline. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which imposed an economic burden of
providing for approximately 1 million refugees, compounded the economic crisis.
Skyrocketing inflation caused consumer prices to rise by 1,664 percent in 1994,
while also making the country’s new currency, the manat, practically
worthless. As a consequence, living standards deteriorated for the majority of
the population.
The economy began to recover after the
government of Azerbaijan introduced an economic stabilization program in 1995
with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Also that year, the
government launched a program to transfer state-owned enterprises to the public
sector. Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of
goods and services produced, began to show growth in 1996. In 2006 GDP was $19.9
billion.
Azerbaijan is one of the world’s oldest oil
exporters, and development of the country’s extensive petroleum reserves remains
central to its economic future. Foreign investment is focused almost exclusively
in the petroleum industry. Other sectors have received relatively little
development since independence.
A | Agriculture |
Agriculture produced 7 percent of GDP in
2006. About 40 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Cotton is
the leading export crop. Fruits, vegetables, grains (primarily wheat), wine
grapes, tea, and tobacco are also grown. Most crops are cultivated in lowland
areas and require extensive irrigation. Some of Azerbaijan’s best farmland is
located in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Kura and Aras rivers. Livestock
raising is also important, and extensive pastures provide grazing lands for
sheep, cattle, and goats.
Agricultural production declined during
the 1990s. The conflict involving Nagorno-Karabakh contributed to the decline,
in part because transportation links were disrupted. Production was also
adversely affected by the breaking up of large state-owned and collective farms
that had been established during the Soviet period. Those farms were replaced by
smaller, privately owned farms, which for lack of machinery and fertilizers have
tended to focus on subsistence agriculture (the cultivation of crops for
personal consumption). In addition, the ability to bring agricultural products
to market is hindered by the country’s underdeveloped distribution routes.
B | Mining and Manufacturing |
The extraction of petroleum is the
country’s largest industry, and it supports a number of other industries,
including petroleum refining, petrochemicals processing, and equipment
manufacturing. Other factories produce glass, ceramics, textiles, and clothing.
Most of Azerbaijan’s oil is found in
fields under the Caspian Sea. Reserves of natural gas are also located in
offshore fields. Azerbaijan also possesses deposits of iron ore, aluminum,
copper, and zinc; industrial minerals, such as iodine and bromine; precious and
semiprecious gems; and marble.
In the early 1990s Azerbaijan opened its
oil industry to foreign investment as a way to fund development, both for the
exploration of new offshore fields in the Caspian and for the construction of
new export pipelines. The subsequent discovery of massive offshore oil and gas
fields, the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and the Shah Deniz gas field,
significantly improved Azerbaijan’s export prospects.
The establishment of new, commercially
viable oil and gas pipelines was critical to growth in exports. Initially,
petroleum was exported solely via a pipeline to the Russian Black Sea port of
Novorossiysk. In 1999 a new pipeline opened between Baku and the Black Sea port
of Supsa, Georgia, to facilitate the export of oil to Europe.
Another new pipeline opened in May 2005
linking Azerbaijan with Turkey, providing the first direct route between Caspian
oil fields and the Mediterranean Sea. This pipeline was especially significant
for reaching markets beyond Europe, as the Mediterranean is accessible to large
oil tankers. The 1,770-km (1,100-mi) pipeline carries crude oil from Baku,
through central Georgia via Tbilisi, to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. Known as
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, it will carry about 1 million barrels of
oil a day once it reaches full capacity later in the decade. The pipeline was
primarily developed as a conduit for Azerbaijan’s new Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil
field, but at full capacity it will take oil from Kazakhstan’s offshore fields
as well. Meanwhile, construction began on a new gas pipeline following the
discovery of massive reserves of natural gas in 1999. Scheduled to open in 2006,
this pipeline will carry natural gas along a route roughly parallel to the BTC
oil pipeline.
C | Energy |
About 88 percent of Azerbaijan’s
electricity comes from thermal power stations fueled by oil and natural gas.
Hydroelectric facilities produce the remainder of the country’s
electricity.
D | Currency and Trade |
Since gaining independence, Azerbaijan has
worked to develop new trading relationships with countries outside the former
Soviet Union. Its leading markets for exports are Italy, France, Israel, Russia,
and Turkey. Its main sources of imports are Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, the
United States, and the United Kingdom. Oil and oil products are leading exports.
Machinery and equipment are leading imports.
Until 1994 Azerbaijan used the Russian
ruble as its currency. That year, the Azerbaijani manat became the sole legal
tender (1 manats equal U.S.$1; 2006 average).
E | Transportation |
The transportation system in Azerbaijan is
considered inadequate for the country’s long-term needs. Paved roads extend
along the Caspian Sea north to Russia and south to Iran. Other paved roads
connect Baku with Tbilisi in Georgia. During the Soviet era, a rail line
extending north was the country’s principal route for transporting goods;
regional disputes have since occasionally closed the railroad. Azerbaijan now
depends on a railroad through Georgia to ports on the Black Sea for much of its
imports.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Azerbaijan is a presidential republic,
governed under a constitution adopted by referendum in 1995. The new
constitution replaced the 1978 constitution, which had been amended to reflect
Azerbaijan’s new status after the republic gained independence in 1991. All
citizens of Azerbaijan age 18 and older are eligible to vote.
A | Executive |
The head of state is the president, who is
directly elected for a term of five years. With the approval of the legislature,
the president appoints a prime minister and a cabinet of ministers, who carry
out the day-to-day operations of government. Among other powers, the president
calls legislative elections, nominates the prosecutor-general and higher-court
justices, and may declare a state of emergency or martial law.
B | Legislature |
Legislative power is vested in the Milli
Majlis, or National Assembly, a unicameral (single-chamber) body composed
of 125 members who serve five-year terms. Under the country’s electoral law, 25
seats in the Milli Majlis are awarded to candidates according to the proportion
of the vote their parties draw in elections. The remaining 100 seats are filled
by the winners of district elections.
C | Judiciary |
The judicial system includes the Supreme
Court, which is the country’s highest court; the Constitutional Court, which is
charged with ensuring that the government complies with the constitution; and
the Economic Court, which is the highest legal body in economic disputes. The
members of these three courts are nominated by the president and approved by the
Milli Majlis.
D | Political Parties |
Political parties with representation in
the Milli Majlis include the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), the Popular Front of
Azerbaijan (PFA), and the Civic Solidarity Party (CSP). The NAP, which is the
party of President Heydar Aliyev, holds the majority of seats.
E | Local Government |
For purposes of local government,
Azerbaijan is divided into 71 administrative regions, consisting of 59
districts, 11 cities, and the autonomous republic of Naxçivan. The local
government of Naxçivan adheres to the republic’s constitution and cooperates
with the central government. The enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has no official
designation at this time. It was established as an autonomous region in 1923,
but this status was officially abolished in 1991 due to the conflict in the
region. In December 1991 Nagorno-Karabakh declared itself an independent
republic, but neither Azerbaijan nor any other country, including Armenia,
formally recognized its independence.
F | Defense |
The formation of Azerbaijan’s national
armed forces began after the republic gained independence from the Soviet Union.
By 2004 Azerbaijan had developed an army of about 56,840 troops, a navy of
1,750, and an air force of 7,900. Military service is compulsory for at least 17
months for all males, beginning at age 18.
G | International Organizations |
Azerbaijan became a member of the United
Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
in 1992. In September 1993 the republic was admitted as a full member of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose alliance of most of the former
Soviet republics. In May 1994 Azerbaijan became a member of the Partnership for
Peace program, which provides for limited military cooperation with the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Azerbaijan became a member of the Council
of Europe in 2001.
VI | HISTORY |
The area of present-day Azerbaijan was
settled beginning in about the 8th century bc by the Medes, an ancient Aryan tribe.
It became part of the Persian Empire in the 6th century bc, and the ancient Persian religion of
Zoroastrianism was introduced. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries ad, the Romans conquered the area of
present-day Azerbaijan, which then became known as Caucasian Albania.
Christianity began to spread there in the 3rd century.
A much-disputed area, Caucasian Albania was
conquered in the late 7th century by Arabs, and Islam predominated thereafter.
In the mid-11th century Seljuk Turks led by Togrul Beg conquered present-day
Azerbaijan as well as most of Iran and Iraq. Turkic tribes migrated to the area
from the east and came to influence the linguistic and cultural development of
the Azerbaijanis. With the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, the area fell
under the domain of Mongol khans (see Mongol Empire). In the 16th century
Azerbaijan again came under the control of Iran (formerly known as Persia),
which was ruled by the Safavid dynasty, and the Shia doctrine of Islam was
established as the official religion. The Ottomans, who were Sunni Muslims, went
to war with Iran and held Azerbaijan from 1578 to 1603, but the Safavids
continued to reign over the area until their dynasty fell in the early 18th
century. Turkic Muslim khanates were then established in Baku, Naxçivan, and
other areas.
A | Russian Conquest |
Imperial Russia conquered the Caspian
coast in the early 18th century, but soon relinquished the territory to the
Muslim khans. In the early 19th century Russia again sought control of the area.
In 1801 some western territory of present-day Azerbaijan was annexed to the
Russian Empire along with adjacent territory in Georgia. Russia and Iran then
engaged in war between 1804 and 1813 and again from 1826 to 1828. The treaties
of 1813 and 1828 ceded Iranian territory north of the Aras River (present-day
Azerbaijan) to Russia.
During the latter half of the 19th
century, oil was discovered in Azerbaijan, and by the turn of the century the
Abşeron Peninsula supplied most of Russia’s oil. Baku experienced rapid
industrialization and population growth as the center of Russia’s oil industry.
The influx of Russians and Armenians resulted in a highly segregated city, and
violent clashes erupted in 1905 between the city’s Azerbaijani and Armenian
communities. Azerbaijanis were edged out of the highest-paying positions in the
oil industry, and wealthy Russians and Armenians gained control of local
government.
B | The Soviet Period |
The Russian Empire collapsed in the
Russian Revolution of 1917, and militant socialist revolutionaries called
Bolsheviks (later called Communists) seized power in Russia. This upheaval gave
Azerbaijani nationalists the opportunity to assert control over local
government, and in May 1918 they declared Azerbaijan an independent republic.
Bolshevik supporters (mainly Russians) resisted the nationalists in Baku, and
armed conflicts took place in the city in March and September 1918, resulting in
thousands of deaths. In 1920 the Bolshevik Red Army invaded Azerbaijan and the
rest of Transcaucasia (South Caucasus), establishing Bolshevik control in the
region. In December 1922 Azerbaijan was incorporated into the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) as part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated
Socialist Republic (SFSR), which also included Georgia and Armenia. When the
Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved in 1936, Azerbaijan became the Azerbaijan
Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) within the USSR.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the Soviet
government created a Soviet Azerbaijan culture, fought illiteracy, and promoted
local people into state and party positions. At the same time the Soviets
persecuted those Azerbaijani nationalists and intellectuals whom the government
considered a threat to Communist rule. Many of these Azerbaijanis were deported
to gulags (Soviet concentration camps) or simply executed. Religious
leaders also suffered severe persecution, and many mosques and religious centers
were closed and in some instances destroyed.
During the early 1930s the Soviet regime
began the forced collectivization of agriculture, combining private holdings
into large state-operated farms. Azerbaijani farmers rose up in protest, but
they were brutally suppressed by Soviet troops. In the mid to late 1930s,
Communist Party officials throughout the Soviet Union were purged and executed
as part of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s campaign to wipe out all opposition to
his rule (Great Purge). The Stalinist purges also came to include rank-and-file
citizens, and by 1940 an estimated 120,000 Azerbaijanis had died from Soviet
acts of repression. The purges were directed in Azerbaijan by first secretary of
the Azerbaijan Communist Party Mir Jafar Bagirov, who was arrested and executed
after Stalin’s death in 1953.
Azerbaijan developed economically and
became more industrialized under the Soviet planned economy, especially after
World War II (1939-1945). It remained one of the least urbanized republics of
the USSR, however, and agriculture continued to be an important part of the
local economy. The further development of local oil reserves was put on hold in
the 1960s, when larger deposits were discovered in the Russian region of
Siberia.
In 1969 Heydar Aliyev, chief of the Soviet
secret police in Naxçivan, was appointed first secretary of the Azerbaijan
Communist Party. He became the most influential of the republic’s Communist
leaders in the period after World War II. However, Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev dismissed Aliyev in 1987 following an investigation into charges of
widespread corruption in Aliyev’s administration.
In February 1988 a conflict surfaced in
Azerbaijan’s autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians had
long constituted a majority of the population. The Armenian-dominated regional
council requested that the territory be transferred to Armenia, but the Soviet
authorities in Moscow ultimately rejected the request. Armenians staged massive
demonstrations in the region and in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. In Sumgait,
an industrial city in eastern Azerbaijan, organized attacks against Armenians
took place. Armed conflicts between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in
Nagorno-Karabakh triggered a large-scale exodus of Azerbaijanis from Armenia and
Armenians from Azerbaijan. In early 1989 some 5,000 Soviet troops were sent into
Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Soviet government assumed direct control of the region
through most of the year; nevertheless, the situation remained highly volatile.
Later that year Azerbaijan imposed a rail blockade of Armenia, followed by a
full economic blockade in 1990.
Beginning in the late 1980s, meanwhile,
the Soviet government allowed political groups other than the Communist Party to
function openly for the first time. The Communist Party leadership in Azerbaijan
was reluctant to observe this political liberalization. The Communist-controlled
Azerbaijan Supreme Soviet (national legislature) conceded official recognition
to the newly formed nationalist group called the Popular Front of Azerbaijan
(PFA) only after the PFA organized a national strike in September 1989.
The PFA sought to maintain Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity, which made the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh even more
bitter. Interethnic tensions continued to increase, and violent riots targeting
ethnic Armenians erupted in Baku in January 1990. The PFA effectively took
control of the city, leading the government to declare a state of emergency. The
city’s Armenian inhabitants were hastily evacuated. The Soviet government
immediately dispatched troops to Baku in an attempt to reestablish government
control. During the intervention of Soviet troops, more than 100 people were
killed and more than 700 injured, according to official reports. To enforce the
state of emergency, the government banned all public demonstrations, outlawed
radical nationalist organizations, and arrested leading PFA members. Because of
the Azerbaijan Communist Party’s failure to maintain stability, the Soviet
government dismissed the head of the party, Abdul Vezirov, and appointed Ayaz
Mutalibov in his place.
Relative order was restored in Azerbaijan
by the end of January. Elections to the Supreme Soviet, originally scheduled for
February, were postponed until September. Although they were the republic’s
first multiparty elections, the continued state of emergency limited campaigning
by opposition groups, and Communist Party candidates won a majority of
seats.
In August 1991 Communist hardliners
attempted to seize control of the Soviet government in Moscow. Although the coup
attempt failed, it instigated large demonstrations in Azerbaijan calling for the
republic’s independence. Demonstrators also called for an end to the state of
emergency, the resignation of Mutalibov, and the postponement of presidential
elections scheduled for September. The elections were held as scheduled,
however, and Mutalibov won as the only candidate because the PFA and other
opposition groups boycotted the elections.
On August 30, meanwhile, the Azerbaijan
Supreme Soviet voted in favor of independence, and Azerbaijan’s status as an
independent republic was formalized in October. A new 50-member legislature, the
Milli Majlis (National Assembly), subsequently replaced the Supreme Soviet. In
December the USSR officially collapsed.
C | Independent Republic |
After Azerbaijan gained independence, the
government abolished Nagorno-Karabakh’s autonomous status. The Armenian
leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh responded by declaring the region’s independence.
The conflict continued to plague Azerbaijan during its first years of
independence. President Mutalibov was forced to resign in March 1992 after he
was held directly responsible for the death of several hundred Azerbaijanis
killed by Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. The interim president, Yagub
Mamedov, was unable to control the political situation, and Mutalibov was
reinstated in May. He was immediately deposed, however, when the PFA seized
control in a nearly bloodless coup with the support of military units.
The leader of the PFA, Abulfaz Aliyev
Elchibey, was elected president in June. Elchibey soon lost popularity, however,
because of his inability to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh or improve
Azerbaijan’s war-ravaged economy. Pressure on Elchibey increased when he
attempted to disarm a disobedient military garrison based in Gäncä in June 1993.
The garrison, led by Colonel Surat Huseinov, marched on Baku and seized control,
and Elchibey fled to Naxçivan. The Milli Majlis voted to transfer Elchibey’s
powers to former Communist Party official Heydar Aliyev, who had been elected
chairperson of the assembly earlier that month. A national referendum supported
Elchibey’s removal, and in October 1993 Aliyev was elected president in a
virtually uncontested election. The Milli Majlis appointed Huseinov as prime
minister, and he took over the coordination of the military effort in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Meanwhile, the government of Armenia
continued publicly to support the Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh. By
August 1993 Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, with reinforcements from
Armenia, gained control of the enclave as well as some 20 percent of adjacent
territory in western Azerbaijan, including a corridor linking the enclave with
Armenia. Azerbaijanis fled the Armenian-controlled territory to other parts of
Azerbaijan, resulting in 100,000 new refugees in the country. In December 1993
Azerbaijani forces began a renewed offensive in the region, recapturing some
areas while suffering heavy casualties. By early 1994 an estimated 18,000 people
had been killed and 25,000 wounded since the conflict began in 1988. The massive
relocation of population had produced an estimated 1 million refugees and
displaced persons (primarily Azerbaijanis and Armenians) in Azerbaijan alone.
Initial cease-fire agreements failed to hold, and fighting continued in
Nagorno-Karabakh until May 1994, when both sides agreed again to cease
hostilities. Subsequent negotiations failed to achieve a final peace settlement,
although the cease-fire remained in effect.
In other internal affairs, the Aliyev
government faced mutinies among certain military troops (particularly the
special militia attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs) in October 1994
and March 1995. Forces loyal to Aliyev quickly crushed the revolts and
reestablished government control. After the October revolt, Aliyev dismissed
Prime Minister Huseinov as well as several high-level government and military
officials, charging they had supported the mutinous forces. Aliyev declared a
state of emergency and banned demonstrations. After the March revolt, which
Aliyev described as part of another plot to oust him, the PFA was accused of
involvement and banned by the government.
In November 1995 Azerbaijan held its first
legislative elections since independence, for a new 125-seat Milli Majlis. The
New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), aligned with Aliyev, won a majority of seats. Two
opposition parties were allowed to participate—the PFA, which had been
officially reinstated, and the National Independence Party (NIP)—and both won
seats. International observers reported serious electoral violations such as the
exclusion of a number of opposition parties and hundreds of independent
candidates as well as restriction of the media. At the same time as the
legislative elections, voters approved a new constitution that granted
wide-ranging powers to the president.
After the 1995 elections, Aliyev
maintained a strong position, in part because of an improved economy. However,
his government continued to limit freedom of the press and opposition
activities. In 1998 Aliyev won a second term, defeating five opposition
candidates in an election marred by voting irregularities and strong pro-Aliyev
bias in the media. Subsequently, Aliyev’s failing health due to a heart
condition led to speculation over his ability to govern the country. His party,
the NAP, won a majority of seats in the Milli Majlis in the legislative
elections of 2000, which according to international observers were neither free
nor fair. Aliyev’s health continued to deteriorate, and in mid-2003 he appointed
his son, Ilham Aliyev, as prime minister. Under the country’s succession law,
the prime minister assumes power if the president becomes incapacitated.
In the October 2003 presidential election
Ilham Aliyev was declared the winner by an overwhelming majority in the first
father-son succession in a former Soviet republic. Election observers with the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), however, said the
election failed to meet international standards for a free and fair election.
The OSCE observers cited ballot stuffing and falsified vote counts. Violent
protests by members of opposition parties erupted in the capital, Baku, in
response to the election results.
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