SUMMARY
The oncoming dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in the rise of nationalist movements in the Soviet Republics, APF (Azerbaijani Popular Front) being one of them. In January 1990, APF’s pro-independence demonstrations turned into armed conflict, when the Soviet army intervened in Baku on 19 January 1990 and took control of the city the next day. Over hundred people died in street fighting. Subsequently, APF was outlawed. However, after the break-up of the Soviet Union APF-leader Eltjibey won the first presidential elections in independent Azerbaijan.
IN DEPTH
Conflict Description
In the late 1980s, there were strong indications of an oncoming disintegration of the Soviet Union. Many of the republics and other entities that made up the Soviet Union desired self-rule. Azerbaijan, situated in the Caucasus region, was one of the republics within the Soviet Union. The republics local leadership followed the agenda of its communist counterpart in Moscow.
In March 1989, a movement called the Azerbaijani Popular Front (the APF) appeared. The APF was formed by Abulfaz Eltjibey as a protest group against the local communist leadership as well as against the regime in Moscow. The APF wanted to advance reform in Azerbaijan. However, democratic transition was not the sole ambition of the APF. Eltjibey and his supporters also wished to unite with Azeris in Iran. This ambition resulted in attacks by APF on Azerbaijani border post on the Azerbaijan-Iran border. Another important part of the APF programme was to suppress the Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabach region of Azerbaijan. APF also launched several attacks on Armenians in Azerbaijan. In its efforts to redefine and take control of the Azerbaijani territory, the APF advocated an Azerbaijan independent from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union government, for its part, regarded the APF as "criminal extremist forces wanting to overthrow Soviet power in Azerbaijan.
In August 1989, the local communist party recognised the APF as an opposition party. This gave the APF an opportunity to campaign for a law on sovereignty for Azerbaijan in the local parliament. The dispute with the Soviet government escalated in January 1990. Demonstrators in Baku called for secession from the Soviet Union and for the resignation of Azerbaijans local leadership. Another demand from APF was that Azerbaijani should have full sovereignty over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In mid-January, the mass demonstrations turned into violence. On 19 January, radical members of the APF attacked and captured government buildings in Baku. Within a few hours, a large-scale Soviet intervention was launched to restore order. In the following street fighting a high number of demonstrators was killed by Soviet troops.
By 20 January, the Soviet army had taken control of Baku. Sporadic sniper-fire as well as strikes and unrest were ongoing in the following week. By 28 January, there were reports that tensions in Baku had eased. The Soviet troops had succeeded in restoring central authority and the communist party could maintain its influence. The local leadership was, however, replaced with new representatives. The conflict ended, thus, with the suppression of the APF. Nevertheless, even if declared illegal, the APF retained immense popular appeal and visibility. Meanwhile, the break-up of the Soviet Union proceeded. In 1991, Azerbaijan became an independent state. In the following year, the APF leader Abulfaz Eltjibey won the first free presidential elections. Eltjibeys election, however, did not result in a non-violent transition to democracy, and internal tensions have continued in Azerbaijan.
