Azerbaijan Demands Freedom!

** Supporters of several opposition parties chanted “Freedom!” and “Free Elections!” while holding placards with such slogans as “Down with robber government!” Some carried a picture of Bush with the inscription: “We want freedom!” **

Thousands March for Freedom in Baku, Azerbaijan…

A young protester sends a strong message to President Bush!

Protesters shouting “Freedom” marched in Azerbaijan today:

Thousands of opposition protesters chanted “Freedom!” and carried pictures of President Bush as they marched across Azerbaijan’s capital Saturday, urging the government of this U.S. ally to step down and allow free parliamentary elections this year.

The massive rally in Baku was the largest opposition demonstration in the former Soviet republic since October 2003, when one person died and nearly 200 were injured in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting vote-rigging in the presidential election.

Tensions have been building steadily in this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation in the run-up to parliamentary elections set for November, leading some observers to predict that Azerbaijan could see a massive uprising similar to those that toppled unpopular regimes in other ex-Soviet nations of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan during the past 18 months.


Despite a violent end to a protest two weeks ago, today’s rally was the largest in Azerbaijan since the 2003 protests over vote-rigging by the government.

The rally was intended to draw attention to the opposition’s push for election law reforms and access to state-controlled television. The opposition parties have accused authorities of rigging the October 2003 presidential election when President Ilham Aliev succeeded his late father, Geidar Aliev, and demanded changes to prevent fraud in the parliamentary vote.

A protest two weeks ago turned violent.

Two weeks ago, police beat back opposition protesters who tried to hold a banned rally in Baku. Dozens were arrested.


A protester is hoping that President Bush gets his message.

Is Azerbaijan the next Ukraine or Georgia?

Tensions have been steadily building up in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation in the run-up to parliamentary elections set for November, leading some observers to predict that Azerbaijan could see a massive uprising similar to those that toppled unpopular regimes in other ex-Soviet nations of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past 18 months.

Thousands of supporters of several opposition parties marched in Baku on Saturday, chanting “Freedom!” and “Free Elections!” They held placards with slogans like “Down with robber government!” and carried a picture of U.S. President George W. Bush with inscription: “We want freedom!”

Update: (1:00 PM) God, how I love me some Charles Johnson and Little Green Footballs! Charles has dared to link to this freedom and democracy story when the rest of the MSM is focusing on “Saddam’s Morale Collapsing!”

Update 2: The Anchoress and Robert Mayer at Publius Pundit have chimed in.

Update 3: (Sunday AM) Moscow News has more on the event.

“Not only the opposition, but all people need democratic changes,” Ali Kerimli, leader of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan, said at the rally. “We demand free elections, and if the conditions for the free elections are not created, every village, every bloc will demand the government’s resignation.”

Opposition leader Panakh Huseinli said Aliev’s government would not allow free elections — to its own peril. “The Aliyev regime will never allow free elections, and it will mean its end,” Huseinli said. “The revolution is inevitable.”

About 400 police in full riot gear stood guard around a central square where protesters gathered, but they did not intervene and the rally ended peacefully. Authorities in Baku initially refused the request from the People’s Front of Azerbaijan, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan and the Musavat party to allow Saturday’s downtown rally, suggesting they instead hold it on the outskirts of the city. But after opposition leaders rejected that offer Friday and vowed to gather in downtown Baku anyway, authorities approved the rally in the city center.

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich, mostly Muslim country of 8.3 million, is the starting point of the key pipeline that Washington says will reduce dependence on oil from the Middle East. The country also is a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, with troops in Iraq.

Photo of author
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!