Surat Huseynov

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Surat Huseynov
Surət Hüseynov
Panah Huseynov
Succeeded byFuad Guliyev
Personal details
Born(1959-02-12)12 February 1959
USSR (now Ganja, Azerbaijan)
Died31 July 2023(2023-07-31) (aged 64)
Istanbul, Turkey

Surat Davud oghlu Huseynov (Azerbaijani: Surət Davud oğlu Hüseynov; 12 February 1959 – 31 July 2023) was an Azerbaijani military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister after ousting Azerbaijan President Abulfaz Elchibey in the 1993 Azerbaijan military coup.

Huseynov, who had enriched himself through Soviet Azerbaijan's black market,[1] commanded forces on the northern front in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[2] He took the rank of colonel and used his money to attract forces under his command.[2] Huseynov had no military training and had no military successes during the war.[2] Azerbaijan President Abulfaz Elchibey removed Huseynov from command, which prompted Huseynov to order his forces to withdraw from the front line and enabled Armenian forces to take Kelbejer.[2]

In June 1993, Huseynov's forces seized the weaponry left by a departing Russian airborne division in Ganja.[3] He subsequently marched on Baku, demanding the resignation of Elchibey and the entire Azerbaijan government.[2] Elchibey declined to call his supporters into the streets to confront Huseynov's army, as he feared that this would embroil Azerbaijan into a conflict akin to Georgian Civil War.[2] Elchibey opted instead to resign.[2] Heydar Aliyev was subsequently installed as president and he in turn installed Huseynov as prime minister.[4] Amid this turmoil, Azerbaijan lost enormous swaths of territory to Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and had effectively lost the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[5][4]

Huseynov was later imprisoned.[1]

Prior to the war

After serving in the army in 1977–1979 and later graduating from the Leninabad Technological Institute,[6] Surat Huseynov worked as a plumber, a warehouse employee and an assistant operator at the Kirovabad Textile Factory. In 1983–1984 he resided in Novopavlovsk, Russian SFSR. For the next two years he worked as a wool sorter at a storing department in Shaki, Azerbaijan.

In 1986 he became senior inspector of a

Popular Front of Azerbaijan in the late Soviet era. He was married and had two children.[7]

First Nagorno-Karabakh War

At the dawn of the conflict in 1990, Huseynov formed an armed group supported by the local

Haterk (a village near Mardakert), Huseynov relocated his detachments to Ganja and refused to disband them.[1] As a result, Mardakert fell to Armenians in February 1993.[8] Elchibey responded by removing Huseynov from the government.[7]

During this period, Huseynov received extensive support from the leadership of the 104th Guards Airborne Division of the

Soviet Airborne Troops headquartered in Ganja. This was due not only to the good personal relationship between them, but also because Huseynov was pro-Russian and did not conceal his feelings.[9] At the end of May 1993 the last sub-units of the 104th Division left Azerbaijan, eventually to be relocated to Ulyanovsk
in Russia, but handed over all their arms and military equipment to Huseynov.

Ganja revolt

The Popular Front of Azerbaijan blamed Huseynov for treason and for intentionally ceding the villages around Mardakert to Armenians (allowing their advance into

Ministry of Internal Affairs. On 30 June, the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan elected Huseynov to the requested office.[7]

Escape, conviction and later release

Surat Huseynov, now Prime Minister, reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with Heydar Aliyev signing the so-called "

life in prison (highest form of punishment in Azerbaijan).[10] In 2004, under pressure from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him. Huseynov was released and later lived a secluded life in the town of Buzovna, near Baku.[11]

In July 2023, Huseynov, who was suffering from stomach and kidney problems, travelled to Istanbul, Turkey on a flight from Moscow, to seek medical treatment. He died from gastrointestinal bleeding upon landing at Istanbul Airport on 31 July, at the age of 64.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e The Black Garden by Tom De Waal., ch. 13
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-59731-9
  3. ISBN 978-0-19-068308-5
    .
  4. ^
    S2CID 250081480
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-068308-5
    .
  6. ^ Dmitry Kamyshev. Suran Huseynov: From Rebel to Prime Minister. Kommersant, #122. 1 July 1993. Accessed 4 August 2013.
  7. ^ a b c (in Russian) Azerbaijan in June 1993 by Vardkes Khachaturov. Международный институт гуманитарно-политических исследований. 1995
  8. ^ Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh: Dynamics and Prospects for Solution Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Svante Cornell
  9. ^ Azerbaijan: The Burden of History: Waiting for Change (Arming Azerbaijan) Saferworld Arms & Security Programme, p.13, accessed at "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), November 2009
  10. ^ Sentenced to Life[permanent dead link] by Ekaterina Fartova. Белорусская деловая газета. 19 February 1999. Retrieved 23 July 2008
  11. ^ The End of the Second Republic Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine by Zardusht Alizadeh.
  12. ^ (in Russian) Surat Huseynov Passed Away. Haqqin.az. 31 July 2023
Political offices
Preceded by
Panah Huseynov
 Prime Minister of Azerbaijan
1993–1994 		Succeeded by
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