The pan-Turkist dissident who became Azerbaijan's first democratically elected president
During a 1992 visit to Ankara he declared: "I am a soldier of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk."
A leader of Azerbaijan's independence movement and its first democratically elected president after the Soviet collapse. Trained as an Arabic philologist, he served 18 months in prison in the 1970s for anti-Soviet activities, and in 1989 became the leader of the Azerbaijani Popular Front, the rallying point of nationalist forces. On 13 January 1990 he organized the National Defence Council, placing himself at the centre of the nationalities crisis that culminated in the anti-Armenian Baku pogrom and Black January. Elected president in 1992 as the first anti-communist leader of any former Soviet republic, he was overthrown in June 1993 by a Russia-backed military coup and Heydar Aliyev succeeded him.
Career Timeline
- 1957Graduated in Arabic philology, Faculty of Oriental Studies, Baku State University
- 1963–1964Worked as a translator in Egypt
- 1969–1974History lecturer, Baku State University → arrested (1975) for anti-Soviet activities, 18 months in prison
- 1976–1992Researcher, Institute of Manuscripts, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences
- 1989–1992Chairman, Azerbaijani Popular Front
- 1990.01Organized and chaired the National Defence Council, Baku
- 1992–1993President, Republic of Azerbaijan
- 1997–2000Leader, Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (in opposition)