Sunday, 13 November 2005

AZERBAIJAN PROTEST DRAWS 20,000

Published in News Digest

By empty (11/13/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

About 20,000 people have attended a protest in Azerbaijan\'s capital, Baku, a week after a parliamentary election they say were rigged. It was the second protest this week, aimed, the opposition says, at sparking a movement like the Orange Revolution that forced regime change in Ukraine. President Ilham Aliyev, whose New Azerbaijan Party won the election, says he will not allow that to happen.
About 20,000 people have attended a protest in Azerbaijan\'s capital, Baku, a week after a parliamentary election they say were rigged. It was the second protest this week, aimed, the opposition says, at sparking a movement like the Orange Revolution that forced regime change in Ukraine. President Ilham Aliyev, whose New Azerbaijan Party won the election, says he will not allow that to happen. International observers said the poll did not meet democratic standards. The protests have been organised by an opposition alliance of the main Azadliq (Freedom) bloc and a number of smaller groups. The earlier protest, on Wednesday, drew 15,000 people. Organisers had hoped for a greater turnout on Sunday to spark a campaign like last year\'s Orange Revolution in which Viktor Yushchenko was swept to power in Ukraine following a re-run of rigged presidential elections. The protesters in Baku waved orange flags as they marched to Victory Square, directing chants of \"resign\" to President Aliyev. Top Azadliq leader, Ali Kerimli, said: \"Let no-one think that this struggle will end. We will wage it until the end.\" Protester, Ruslan Asadov, 19, said: \"We were told not to come here, but we did anyway. We want new elections. Everybody needs to unite for democracy.\" About 800 riot police were on duty. The BBC\'s Natalia Antelava in Baku says some of the protesters asked the police to join them. Protest leaders urged the crowd to pursue a peaceful demonstration, at which point thousands sat down and said they wanted to stay in the square beyond the time the march was allotted by authorities. But the leaders said they should go home to avoid a confrontation and the rally broke up peacefully, our correspondent says. President Aliyev\'s party won more than half the seats in the 125-seat parliament. Internationally-overseen exit polls in a number of districts were at odds with the official results. (BBC)
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The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.

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