2020 Azerbaijani protests
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The 2020 Azerbaijani protests, also known within Azerbaijan as the Karabakh March (Azerbaijani: Qarabağ yürüşü),[1] were series of civil protests from 12 to 15 July in various cities and towns in Azerbaijan. They erupted during the Armenian–Azerbaijani border clashes, with the protestors demanding full-scale war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Initial protests erupted on 12 July, in
No opposition or government figure appeared in front of the crowd when they stormed Parliament. Analysts said there was "neither a government official nor an intellectual" who could stand up to such a crowd. Some opposition members said that they "did not appear that day because they were worried about provocation". Government officials stated the government did not address the crowd because of the "restrictive and stay-at-home measures" because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Some interpreted the Parliament break-in, and some of the earlier episodes, as provocations meant to discredit the protesters. According to Zaur Shiriyev, a Baku-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, the death of Hashimov and other high-ranking officers was a "turning point" and had "changed people's minds".[8]
The Azerbaijani government regarded the storming of the Parliament as a "provocation",[6] with President Ilham Aliyev blaming the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), the main opposition party, for the incident,[14] though the PPFA declared its members innocent.[15] The Azerbaijani authorities launched a criminal case over the incident and completed their preliminary investigation over the arrests on 11 September. 36 people were arrested—16 were members of the PFPA.[15] Despite this, according to other Azerbaijani sources, as many as 120 people were detained after the protests, including journalists.[14] Relatives of some detainees said that they could not get information about their family members for more than a day. According to some reports, some detainees were not fed or given a place to sleep.[11]
The protests are believed to have led to the
Background
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The territorial ownership of
During the
The
Border clashes
For three decades multiple violations of the ceasefire occurred, the most serious being the four-day
Gobu protests
On 12 July, despite COVID-19 regulations, mass pro-war protests erupted at night in Gobu Park, near Baku, where the Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) live. Protesters, chanting slogans such as "Martyrs do not die, the homeland will not be divided," moved towards the Bina Bazaar. The local police initially talked to the crowd and tried to disperse it, but the crowd ignored them. The protestors, numbering around 700 to 800 people, were broadcasting the events via social media, which attracted more participants. The Rapid Police Unit (RPU) intervened and dispersed the crowd an hour after the protests had begun. Police detained dozens of protestors, though they were released afterwards. The RPU was deployed in Lokbatan to ensure security.[2][3]
The Karabakh March
On 14 July, hundreds of people arrived in front of Colonel Ilgar Mirzayev's house in the
On the same day, a video calling for mobilisation on behalf of Azerbaijan's minister of defence, Zakir Hasanov, was spread on the social media. The video shows an unidentified man sitting in a police car talking through a loudspeaker. Dozens of people, including two in police uniforms, appeared to have gathered around the car. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that the video was fake, though local social media users disputed this. The Azerbaijani military authorities said they were unaware of who disseminated the information. Elshad Hajiyev, a spokesman for the Baku State Traffic Police, said he was unaware of the identity of the person "sitting in a police car and calling for mobilisation". The State Service for Mobilization and Conscription of Azerbaijan, in a statement referring to the recruitment of the reservists, said there was "no reason for such a need today". The service added it had received numerous appeals from the citizens willing to serve on the frontline and provide assistance.[54]
Storming of the Parliament
After the initial demonstrations, a smaller group reached the front of the National Assembly on the night of 14 and 15 July. Apart from support for the army and calls for war,
Aftermath
Domestic response
On 15 July, no opposition or government figure appeared in front of the crowd. Analysts said there was "neither a government official nor an intellectual" who could stand up to such a crowd. Some opposition members said they "did not appear that day because they were worried about provocation". Government officials said the government did not address the crowd because of the "restrictive and stay-at-home measures" for the COVID-19 pandemic. Political analyst Rashad Shirin attributed the government's reluctance to appear in public to the "fact that they were not used to speaking ... and were not prepared for such a tense situation". He also said the president's speech in a spontaneous, chaotic rally could be problematic because there were security issues. Isa Gambar, head of the National Centre for Strategic Thought, said the government had "no influential people to bring" before the crowd. According to him, the Azerbaijani government had subjugated the intellectuals, and "forced them to lose prestige, or completely excluded them from the socio-political process". Khadija Ismayilova, a human rights activist and investigative journalist, said that although the expectations of the crowd in front of the Parliament were a "promise of mobilisation", there was "no government in Azerbaijan that could make that promise". Recalling the 2013 Baku protests, Ismayilova speculated that the government will "once again take steps to get rid of unpopular people". Zahid Oruj, an Azerbaijani MP and head of the Centre for Social Research, believed that it was wrong to approach the issue through the prism of government officials failing to appear before the crowd.[13] Some interpreted the Parliament break-in, and some other earlier episodes, as provocations meant to discredit the protesters.[8]
Government response
The Azerbaijani government regarded the storming of the Parliament as a provocation, calling the protestors a "group of provocateurs". On 15 July, the
The preliminary investigation over the arrests was completed on 11 September. 37 people were prosecuted, officially charged with intentionally causing minor bodily harm, intentionally destroying or damaging another's property, violating public order, and resisting or using force against a government official. Among them, 36 were arrested, and one was put under house arrest. 16 of those prosecuted were members of the PFPA. Others prosecuted included members of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare Movement (ADR) and the Muslim Union Movement.[15] Despite this, according to other Azerbaijani sources, as many as 120 people were detained after the protests, including members of the NIDA Civic Movement and journalists.[14][62] Relatives of some detainees said they could not obtain information about them for more than a day. According to some reports, a number of detainees were not fed or given a place to sleep.[11]
In response to the demonstrators' calls for mobilisation, President Aliyev said that only 150 people had signed up to go to the frontline. This statement caused anger and frustration in the Azerbaijani public. Azerbaijani activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev said that the president's statement was humiliating for the people who flooded the streets. According to him, the message that the Azerbaijani public expected from the state and the president was completely different—a positive reaction. Azerbaijani MP Zahid Oruj said those who "draw conclusions from the president's speech as disappointing distort the real purpose of the head of state". He stressed the president's speech had "increased the morale of the society and strengthened their confidence in victory". Oruj said that interpreting the president's speech as "Azerbaijan does not want to fight" meant distorting Aliyev's true purpose. He added that "against the background of people who sometimes sound like fighting, great ideals of young people, forces trying to gain points by exploiting the feelings of the homeland, not all applicants intended to go to the trenches".[63]
The protests are believed to have led to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war later in September of the same year.[16][17][18]
International reactions
On 20 July 2020, the United States Department of State urged the Azerbaijani government to avoid using the COVID-19 pandemic to "silence civil society advocacy, opposition voices, or public discussion".[14] On 13 August, the Amnesty International also urged to end the "violent persecution of opposition activists".[64] These actions were widely seen as an attempt to "eliminate pro-democracy advocates and political rivals once and for all".[65]
Notes
- ^ Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884:
- "Resolution 822 (1993)" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. 30 April 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020.
- "Resolution 853 (1993)" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. 29 July 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020.
- "Resolution 874 (1993)" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. 14 October 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020.
- "Resolution 884 (1993)" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. 12 November 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2020.
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External links
Media related to July 2020 pro-war demonstrations Baku at Wikimedia Commons