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Azerbaijan Demands for Sovereignty and the Soviet Reaction
In the fall of 1989, the nationalist opposition Azerbaijani
Popular Front (APF) led a wave of protest strikes expressing
growing political opposition to ACP rule
(see Government
and Politics
, this ch.). Under this pressure, the ACP authorities
bowed to opposition calls to legalize the APF and proclaim
Azerbaijani sovereignty. In September 1989, the Azerbaijani
Supreme Court passed a resolution of sovereignty, among the first
such resolutions in the Soviet republics. The resolution
proclaimed Azerbaijan's sovereignty over its land, water, and
natural resources and its right to secede from the Soviet Union
following a popular referendum. The Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet, the legislative body of the Soviet Union, declared this
resolution invalid in November 1989. Another manifestation of
nationalist ferment occurred at the end of 1989, when
Azerbaijanis rioted along the Iranian border, destroying border
checkpoints and crossing into Iranian provinces that had
Azerbaijani majorities. Azerbaijani intellectuals also appealed
to the CPSU Politburo for relaxation of border controls between
Soviet and Iranian Azerbaijan, comparing the "tragic" separation
of the Azerbaijani nation to the divisions of Korea or Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijanis unleashed a wave of violence against
Armenian residents of Baku and other population centers, causing
turmoil that seemed to jeopardize ACP rule. In response, in
January 1990 Moscow deployed forces of its Ministry of Internal
Affairs (Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del--MVD), Committee for State
Security (Komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti--KGB), and the
military in a brutal suppression of these riots. Moscow also
began a crackdown on the APF and other opposition forces in Baku
and other cities, and Soviet forces cooperated with Iranian
authorities to secure the Azerbaijani-Iranian border. These
actions further alienated the population from Moscow's rule.
Ironically, the Soviet crackdown targeted the large and
increasingly vocal Azerbaijani working class. In this process,
martial law was declared, and the ACP leader was replaced by Ayaz
Mutalibov, a former chairman of the Azerbaijani Council of
Ministers. In May 1990, while martial law remained in effect,
Mutalibov was elected president by the Azerbaijani Supreme
Soviet; elections to the Supreme Soviet were held four months
later. The APF, although declared illegal, retained immense
popular appeal and visibility.
Data as of March 1994
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