Timeline Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijan is about the size of Maine.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
500-600 The monastic complex of
David Gareja was founded in the 6th century by David (St. David
Garejeli), one of the thirteen Assyrian monks who arrived in Georgia
at the same time. His disciples Dodo and Luciane expanded the
original lavra and founded two other monasteries known as Dodo's Rka
(literally, "the horn of Dodo") and Natlismtsemeli ("the Baptist").
Part of the complex is also located in the Agstafa rayon of
Azerbaijan and thus became subject to a border dispute between
Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gareja_monastery_complex)
632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in
Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height,
the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant,
Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and
Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in
history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
730 Khazar commander Barjik
led Khazar troops through the Darial Pass
to invade Azerbaijan. At the Battle of Ardabil, the Khazars defeated
an entire Arab army. The Battle of Ardabil lasted three days, and
resulted in the death of a major Arab general named Jarrah. The
Khazars then conquered Azerbaijan and Armenia and northern Iraq for
a brief time.
(TJOK, pages 160-161)
c1000 Turkic-speaking people
wrote in Runic, the official script.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
1177 Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
(d.1274) was born as Seyyed Shah Hussain Marandi in Marand (near the
city of Tabriz) in Azerbaijan (at this time a part of Iran). He is
also known as Shaikh Hussain Marandi. He migrated to Sindh and
settled in Sehwan and was buried there. He was a Sufi in the regions
that lie in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahbaz_Qalander)
1274 Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
(b.1177), born as Seyyed Shah Hussain Marandi in Marand (near the
city of Tabriz) in Azerbaijan (then part of Iran), died in Sindh
(later part of Pakistan). He had migrated to Sindh and settled in
Sehwan and was buried there. He is also known as Shaikh Hussain
Marandi. He was a Shia Sufi in the regions that lie in the Sindh
province of Pakistan.
{Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Sufi}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahbaz_Qalander)(Econ, 12/20/08,
p.73)
1900 At the turn of the century
51% of the world’s oil came from Azerbaijan.
(SFC, 8/12/98, p.A10)
1918 May 28, Tatars declared
Azerbaijan, in Russian Caucasus, independent.
(HN, 5/28/98)
1920 Apr 28, Azerbaijan joined
the USSR. The Red Army invaded Azerbaijan and turned the country
into a Soviet Republic.
(HN, 4/28/98)(CO, Grolier’s Amer. Acad. Enc./
Azerbaijan)
1921 The borders of Armenia
were gerrymandered when the Caucasus territories were made part of
the Soviet Union. This made the area of Nagorno-Karabakh, a
mountainous enclave of mostly Armenians surrounded by Azerbaijan
dependent on Moscow. The site of Ani, former capital of Armenia, was
ceded to Turkey.
(SFC, 2/4/98, p.C2)(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A18)(Econ,
6/17/06, p.59)
1923 May 10, Geidar Aliev
(Heydar Aliyev, d.2003), later KGB general, Communist Party chief
and Azerbaijan president, was born in Nakhichevan.
(AP, 12/12/03)(SFC, 12/13/03, p.A20)
1926 In Azerbaijan the region’s
1st Turkology Congress convened in Baku to discuss the alphabet
issue. They chose the Latin alphabet for all Turkic-speaking peoples
by a 101-7 vote.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
1927 Mar 27, Mstislav Leopold
Rostropovich, cellist, conductor, was born in Baku, Azerbaijan,
USSR.
(MC, 3/27/02)(Internet)
1936 Dec 5, Armenian SSR,
Azerbaijan SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR & Kirghiz SSR became
constituent republics of Soviet Union.
(MC, 12/5/01)
1961 Dec 24, Ilham Geidar oglu
Aliev, appointed PM in 2003, was born.
(AP, 8/16/03)
1975 The Bakkonditzioner
air-conditioning manufacturer opened in Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR.
(WSJ, 8/30/96, p.A4)
1985 Nov 9, Gary Kasparov
became the world chess champion. He was born in 1963 in Azerbaijan
to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov#Early_career)
1987 Aliyev resigned from the
Soviet Politburo government.
(WSJ, 12/18/96, p.A21)
1988 Feb 28, Ethnic unrest
broke out between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the city of Sumgait.
There was an anti-Armenian pogrom in the town of Sumgait. A national
awakening occurred in Azerbaijan when conflict erupted over the
Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, included by the Soviets in the
Republic of Azerbaijan. The Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh
began fighting for independence.
(WSJ, 8/7/96, p.A15)(AP, 2/28/98)(SFC, 11/27/96,
p.A13)(WSJ, 5/14/97, p.A22)
1988 May 21, The Soviet news
agency Tass reported that the Communist Party leaders of Armenia and
Azerbaijan had been dismissed after fresh outbreaks of ethnic
tensions in the two southern Soviet republics.
(AP, 5/21/98)
1988 Jul 7, The European
Parliament adopted a resolution condemning brutalities against
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
(www.armeniaforeignministry.com/pr_04/040227sumgait.html)
1988 Jul 14, The Soviet press
agency Tass reported that Azerbaijan has rejected an attempt by
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian enclave, to secede and
join Armenia. Some 200,000 demonstrated in Soviet Armenia for the
incorporation of Nagorno-Karabakh.
(http://tinyurl.com/n6dfc)
1988 Nov 24, A state of
emergency was declared in the cities of Kirovabad and Nakhichevan.
(WSJ, 8/7/96, p.A15)
1990 Jan 15, Soviet leader
Gorbachev and the Soviet Presidium declared a state of emergency in
parts of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the wake of escalating ethnic
violence.
(AP, 1/15/00)
1990 Jan 16, The Soviet Union
sent more than 11,000 reinforcements to the Caucasus to halt a civil
war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
(AP, 1/16/00)
1990 Jan 20, The Soviets
attacked Baku, leaving dozens dead and wounded. Gen’l. Lebed led
Russian forces in Baku to crush the nationalist Azeri Popular Front.
62 civilians were killed and more than 200 wounded when the Soviet
army stormed into the city of Baku to end what Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev called fratricidal killing between Muslim Azerbaijanis and
Christian Armenians.
(WSJ, 12/18/96, p.A21)(CO, Grolier’s Amer. Acad.
Enc./ Azerbaijan)(WSJ, 8/7/96, p.A15)(AP, 1/20/00)
1990 Jan 21, Azerbaijan Pres.
Aliyev made his first public appearance since his 1987 resignation
from the Soviet Politburo. He broke the information blackout and
urged int’l. condemnation of the Soviet attack. Mutinous military
cadets fired on troops patrolling the capital during a crackdown on
a nationalist uprising.
(WSJ, 12/18/96, p.A21)(AP, 1/21/00)
1990 Jan 22, Up to 2 million
Azerbaijanis marched through the republic's capital to mourn those
killed when Soviet troops put down a nationalist revolt.
(AP, 1/22/00)
2006 May 23, Iran’s government
closed one of the country's top three newspapers, detaining its
editor and cartoonist for publishing a caricature that caused
members of Iran's Azeri minority to riot in protest.
(AP, 5/23/06)
1991 Aug 30, Azerbaijan
declared its independence, joining the stampede of republics seeking
to secede from the Soviet Union.
(AP, 8/29/01)
1991 Dec, in Azerbaijan Ayaz
Mutallibov was elected Communist Party boss and led the Caspian Sea
nation as it gained independence in the Soviet collapse. He was
ousted from office a few months later and fled to Russia.
(AP, 8/9/11)
1991 Armenia gained
independence and was immediately involved in a territorial dispute
with Azerbaijan over the Nagorny Karabagh region.
(COE / Armenia)(WSJ, 5/2/97, p.A15)
1992 Feb 11, US Secretary of
State James A. Baker III, on a tour of six former Soviet republics,
visited Armenia, where he heard an appeal from the republic's
president for U.S. help in resolving a bloody feud with neighboring
Azerbaijan.
(AP, 2/11/02)
1992 Feb 14, The former Soviet
republics of Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan rejected a proposal for
a unified army, sharply rebuffing Russian President Boris N.
Yeltsin.
(AP, 2/14/02)
1992 In Azerbaijan Abulfez
Elchibey, a pro-Turkish nationalist, came to power. Ayaz Mutalibov
was deposed amid economic turmoil and losses in a war with Armenia.
(WSJ, 7/21/98, p.A12)(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A16)
1992 The Azerbaijanis under a
new nationalist government tried to reconquer Nagorno-Karabakh, but
were soon repulsed.
(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A18)
1992 Azerbaijan adopted a
34-character Latin alphabet based on Turkey’s script to replace the
Russian style Cyrillic.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
1993 Jun 15, In Azerbaijan
former Communist party chief Geidar Aliyev (1923-2003) became head
of parliament. A fifth of Azerbaijan was controlled by
Armenian insurgents when Abulfaz Elchibey was ousted from the
presidency and replaced by former Communist party chief Geidar
Aliyev. Under Aliyev Azerbaijan joined the Commonwealth of
Independent States in Sept.
(CO, Grolier’s Amer. Acad. Enc./ Azerbaijan)
1993 Sep, Azerbaijan joined the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
(CO, Grolier’s Amer. Acad. Enc./ Azerbaijan)
1993 Oct, Geidar Aliyev was
elected president of Azerbaijan with 98.9% of the official vote. The
main opposition Popular Front party boycotted the vote.
(SFC, 12/13/03, p.A20)
1994 May, A cease-fire was
declared between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan Pres. Geidar
Aliyev negotiated a cease-fire with Armenian forces in the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 35,000 people had died in 6 years
of fighting.
(WSJ, 5/14/97, p.A22)(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A18)(SFC,
12/13/03, p.A20)
1994 British Petroleum (BP)
acquired a 34% stake in the “Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli”
(ACG) oil project, a deal that became known as the contract of the
century. This relaunched Baku, Azerbaijan, as a major oil town.
(Econ, 6/11/05, p.62)
1995 Oct, A subway train fire
killed 300 and injured 270 in the capital, Baku.
(WSJ, 10/30/95, p.A-1)
1995 Ayaz Mutalibov allegedly
orchestrated a failed coup attempt.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A16)
1996 Nov 26, Separatists in
Nagorno-Karabakh elected their first president, Robert Kocharian,
despite opposition from Azerbaijan.
(SFC, 11/27/96, p.A13)
1996 Dec, The Lisbon Summit of
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe chose
Azerbaijan’s argument for territorial integrity over Armenia’s
argument for self-determination in Nagorno-Karabakh.
(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A18)
1996 Elmar Huseinov founded the
Monitor Magazine to expose the abuses of the regime of Pres. Heydar
Aliyev.
(SFC, 4/26/99, p.A12)
1997 Sep 2, Ethnic Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh elected Arkady Gukasian as president with an 89%
vote. Azerbaijan called the vote invalid.
(SFC, 9/3/97, p.C3)
1997 Oct 2, A helicopter with
20 passengers crashed near an offshore oil platform and no survivors
were found.
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.A10)
1997 Ayaz Mutalibov allegedly
orchestrated another failed coup attempt.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A16)
1997 Former Soviet republics
(Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova) formed Guuam
to seek cooperation outside Russian influence.
(WSJ, 3/4/05, p.A13)
1997 Viktor Kozeny, a Czech
businessman, purchased vouchers from Azeri citizens that were
exchangeable for state-owned companies. He planned to exchange them
for control of Socar, a state-owned oil company. The 40 cent
vouchers were sold to investors in the US for $25 each. Kozeny was
sued for fraud in 2000, but he asserted that the money went to Pres.
Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev to make the deal work.
(WSJ, 9/7/00, p.A18)
1997 The Central Asia Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program was initiated. The 8-member
group included Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(www.adb.org/CAREC/default.asp)
1998 Feb 26, Azerbaijan accused
Armenia of launching fresh attacks over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh.
(WSJ, 2/27/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar, The Azerbaijan
prosecutor-general informed Eldar Zeynalov, director of the human
rights center, that there were no political prisoners in Azerbaijan,
in contradiction of Zeynalov’s published article that there were 750
political prisoners. Zeynalov was warned that if wrote otherwise, he
would be thrown into jail.
(SFC, 3/20/98, p.A12)
1998 Jul 13, In Azerbaijan
Suret Huseinov, a former prime minister, went on trial for treason.
(SFC, 8/13/98, p.A11)
1998 Sep 10, US wrestler Sam
Henson took first place in the World Wrestling Championships in
Iran. He defeated Namik Abdullavev of Azerbaijan. Iranians stood for
the US anthem for the first time in 19 years.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D4)
1998 Oct 11, In Azerbaijan
Pres. Heydar Aliyev (75) was re-elected for another 5 year term with
76% of the vote. His nearest rival, Etibar Mamedov, won 12%.
(SFC, 10/12/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 29, Five nations
endorsed the oil pipeline from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Sea.
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan committed to
the 1,080 mile conduit with a push from the US.
(SFC, 10/30/98, p.A14)
1998 Thomas Golz published
“Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter’s Adventures in an Oil-Rich,
War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic.” It was about his experiences there
during the 1991-1992 political changes.
(WSJ, 7/21/98, p.A12)
1998 Leaders of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory in Azerbaijan populated mainly by
ethnic Armenians, demanded a transfer from Soviet Azerbaijan to
Soviet Armenia. The Kremlin refused and a war soon followed.
(Econ, 6/25/11, p.66)
1999 Jan 8, In Azerbaijan the
first part of an oil pipeline across Georgia to the Black Sea was
opened.
(SFC, 1/9/99, p.A14)
1999 Jan 31, It was reported
that Vafa Gulkuzade, chief foreign affairs advisor, had asserted
that the country needed a military protector. He said Turkish or
American military bases would be welcomed.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.A20)
1999 Apr 1, A oil pipeline from
Baku to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa was to begin operating.
(SFC, 10/27/98, p.B5)
1999 Jun 22, Azerbaijan planned
to become a major exporter of gas following the discovery at the
Shah Deniz offshore field that could contain as much as 700 billion
cubic meters of natural gas.
(WSJ, 6/23/99, p.A23)
1999 Nov 17, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Turkey agreed to a US-backed plan for a Caspian oil
pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan to be completed in 2004. The 1st
shipment was made in 2006.
(SFC, 11/18/99, p.C6)(AFP, 6/4/06)
2000 Nov 5, Parliamentary
elections were noted to be rife with fraud. Pres. Aliyev’s son was
proposed as parliament speaker.
(WSJ, 11/6/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 25, In Azerbaijan an
earthquake hit Baku and at least 3 people were killed. 20 people
died of heart attacks.
(SSFC, 11/26/00, p.D6)(WSJ, 11/27/00, p.A1)
2001 cApr 5, Presidents Robert
Kocharian of Armenia and Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan met in Key
West, Fla., for negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. A new $2.7 billion
oil pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan, Turkey, was expected to pass just
north of the area. Halliburton Co., was a finalist in engineering
bids for the line and Vice President Chaney was the former chief
executive of Halliburton. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice
formerly served on the Board of Directors for Chevron, a player in
the pipeline bid.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Five men, supporters of
Ayaz Mutalibov, were arrested for plotting to overthrow the
government. In 2002 they were sentenced to prison terms of 5-10
years.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A16)
2002 May 22, Pope John Paul
(82) arrived in Azerbaijan for a 2-day visit before continuing on to
Bulgaria. He hope to improve relations with the Muslim and Christian
Orthodox believers.
(WSJ, 5/22/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 9, Azerbaijan and
Russia signed a bilateral accord on the oil-rich Caspian Sea.
(WSJ, 6/7/02, p.A8)
2002 Jun, Ahmed al-Darbi (26),
an alleged Al-Qaida terrorist, was captured at the airport in Baku,
Azerbaijan. In 2009 an affidavid was relased describing what
followed. Several weeks after his capture he was taken blindfolded
to the US base in Bagram, Afghanistan, through which many if not
most of the Guantanamo detainees have passed. Al-Darbi was held for
eight months at Bagram. For the first two weeks, he was kept in
isolation when not being interrogated. Later he went through a
litany of harsh tactics, including being kicked and dragged around a
room by US troops while music blared in the background. At times, he
was forced to kneel with his hands cuffed above his head through the
night and repeatedly interrogated, often while hooded. He also
describes a process in which he was hooded, shaken violently and
subjected to water poured over his head.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2002 Aug 24, Azerbaijani voters
overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum
the opposition charged was marred by fraud.
(AP, 8/25/02)
2002 Nov 23, Azerbaijan Pres.
Geidar Aliev said that he and Armenian Pres. Robert Kocharian have
agreed to seek a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
(AP, 11/23/02)
2003 Aug 4, Azerbaijan's
parliament named ailing President Geidar Aliev's son, Ilham Geidar
oglu Aliev (b.1961), as PM.
(AP, 8/4/03)
2003 Oct 12, In Baku,
Azerbaijan, some 50,000 people protested Pres. Aliev's attempt to
transfer power to his son in upcoming elections.
(SFC, 10/13/03, p.A11)
2003 Oct 15, Azerbaijan held
presidential elections.
(WSJ, 10/15/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 16, In Azerbaijan
rioting protesters clashed with police in the capital, Baku, after
Ilham Aliev was elected to succeed his father as president. At least
2 people were reported killed. The vote was marred by fraud. Closest
rival Isa Gambar had 11% of the vote.
(AP, 10/16/03)(SFC, 10/16/03, p.A3)(ST, 10/17/03,
p.A14)
2003 Oct 31, Ilham Aliev was
inaugurated as Azerbaijan's new president, succeeding his ailing
father as leader of the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
(AP, 10/31/03)
2003 Dec 12, Former Azerbaijani
Pres. Geidar Aliev (Heydar Aliyev, b.1923), a former KGB general and
Communist Party chief who brought stability to a nation plagued by
insurgencies, died at the Cleveland Clinic.
(AP, 12/12/03)(SFC, 12/13/03, p.A20)
2004 May 18, An Azerbaijani
cargo plane crashed in a forest after taking off from an airport in
China's northwest, killing its seven-member crew.
(AP, 5/18/04)
2004 Jun 2, The Azerbaijani
Fuel and Energy Minister said that $3.4 billion would be invested by
2006 in the first phase of development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli
oil field.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 14, Azerbaijan Fatulla
Huseynov (67), an opposition party leader known for his bold
military exploits in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, was
shot and killed in Baku.
(AP, 6/14/04)
2004 Nov 6, In Baku,
Azerbaijan, a gas explosion tore through a two-story apartment
building, trapping residents under the debris. At least 4 people
were killed.
(AP, 11/6/04)
2004 Transparency Int’l. ranked
Azerbaijan 140th out of 146 countries in terms of corruption.
(Econ, 11/20/04, p.54)
2005 Mar 2, In Azerbaijan Elmar
Huseinov, founder and editor of the opposition magazine Monitor, was
shot to death in the entryway of his Baku apartment building.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 May 21, Azerbaijani
protesters demanding free elections were beaten back by police, who
arrested dozens as they broke up a banned rally.
(AP, 5/21/05)
2005 May 25, In Azerbaijan
officials opened the first section of a $3.6 billion, 1,100-mile
pipeline that will carry Caspian Sea oil to Western markets. The
presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey were on
hand for the ceremony at the Sangachal oil terminal.
(AP, 5/25/05)(WSJ, 5/25/05, p.B2)
2005 Jun 4, Thousands of
opposition protesters chanted "Freedom!" and carried pictures of
President Bush as they marched across Azerbaijan's capital, urging
the government of this U.S. ally to step down and allow free
parliamentary elections this year.
(AP, 6/4/05)
2005 Jun 15, Armenia said
Azerbaijan was stockpiling more arms than permitted by treaty.
(WSJ, 6/16/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 18, In Azerbaijan
thousands of demonstrators chanting "Freedom" and carrying portraits
of President Bush marched across Baku, demanding the resignation of
the government and free parliamentary elections.
(AP, 6/18/05)
2005 Sep 10, In Azerbaijan more
than 2,000 orange-clad opposition members rallied in Baku, demanding
that President Ilhan Aliev resign and that authorities ensure that
parliamentary elections in November are free and fair.
(AP, 9/11/05)
2005 Sep 23, A US embassy
official said the US is to help its Caspian Sea ally Azerbaijan
build a radar station on its border with Iran and another near
Russia.
(AP, 9/23/05)
2005 Oct 9, Riot police in
Azerbaijan scattered hundreds of opposition supporters protesting in
Baku in defiance of a ban, beating some with truncheons and dragging
several away as tensions mounted ahead of parliamentary elections
next month.
(AP, 10/9/05)
2005 Oct 17, An Azerbaijani
opposition leader was arrested in Ukraine and scores of his
supporters were detained by police. Tensions rose in Azerbaijan in
the run-up to next month's parliamentary election.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 21, Authorities in
Azerbaijan said a 2nd former government minister was arrested on
charges of involvement in a coup plot against President Ilham Aliev,
deepening political tensions ahead of next month's key parliamentary
elections.
(AP, 10/21/05)
2005 Oct 25, Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev ordered steps to ensure a November 6
parliamentary vote is fair after Washington voiced concern over a
police crackdown in the oil-producing ex-Soviet state.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Nov 4, In Azerbaijan
thousands of government supporters rallied in Baku on the last day
of campaigning for this weekend's parliamentary elections, while
opponents kept out of sight to avoid confrontations with police.
(AP, 11/4/05)
2005 Nov 6, The head of
Azerbaijan's ruling party declared victory in a parliamentary
election, with 63 seats. Azerbaijan's president pledged
parliamentary elections would be followed by further democratic
reform, but his political opponents alleged there were voting
violations that could taint the results.
(AP, 11/6/05)(Reuters, 11/6/05)(Econ, 11/12/05,
p.55)
2005 Nov 7, Azerbaijan's
opposition rejected the results of weekend parliamentary elections,
calling them rigged and vowing to overturn the outcome of voting
that foreign observers said fell short of international standards.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 8, Azerbaijan's
election commission annulled the results of the weekend
parliamentary vote in two districts and ordered a recount in
another, while the ruling party claimed victory.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 9, Thousands of people
rallied in Baku, Azerbaijan, to demand free elections, answering a
call by the opposition movement following weekend parliamentary
balloting that international observers said was flawed.
(AP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 9, In Azerbaijan Pres.
Ilham Aliev fired two regional governors for interfering with the
count from last weekend's parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/10/05)
2005 Nov 13, Around 20,000
opposition supporters demonstrated on the outskirts of the Azeri
capital Baku to demand that the government resign if it refuses to
re-run parliamentary elections held a week ago.
(AP, 11/13/05)
2005 Nov 14, President Ilham
Aliev fired a third regional governor for alleged interference in
Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections, reacting sternly to Western
charges of voting irregularities.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 19, Thousands of
people gathered in a Baku square as Azerbaijan's opposition parties
protested against disputed parliamentary elections, the latest rally
in a campaign that has made little headway.
(AP, 11/19/05)
2005 Nov 26, In Azerbaijan
truncheon-wielding police in riot gear beat opposition protesters
who gathered in Baku shouting "Freedom!" and demanding a revote of
disputed parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/26/05)
2005 Dec 23, An Azerbaijani
Airlines An-140 twin-engine turboprop crashed on the Caspian Sea
coast and all 18 passengers and five crew were killed. Equipment
failure was suspected.
(AP, 12/24/05)
2006 Jan 22, Georgia began
receiving natural gas late in the day from Azerbaijan following
explosions on pipelines in southern Russia that cut off delivery of
gas to Georgia and its neighbor Armenia during a cold snap.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Feb 10, The presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiated one-on-one on ways to end the
18-year conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, but reached
no conclusion and planned more talks.
(AP, 2/10/06)
2006 Feb 10, Azerbaijan’s
Health Ministry said a British laboratory had confirmed the H5N1
strain of bird flu in wild ducks and swans on its Absheron
Peninsula. WHO said 88 people have died from bird flu since 2003.
(SFC, 2/11/06, p.A8)
2006 Feb 11, The presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to reach agreement after two days of
talks on how to end the bloody conflict over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
(AP, 2/11/06)
2006 Mar 6-2006 Mar 7, Armenian
and Azerbaijani forces exchanged heavy gunfire and mortars at
several points along their border in the most serious fighting in
months.
(AP, 3/7/06)
2006 Mar 14, The WHO said it
believed test results showing three young women in Azerbaijan had
died of bird flu were reliable, but it awaited final confirmation
from a British laboratory.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 15, Officials in
Azerbaijan said a dog had died of bird flu in Baku on Mar 9. 3 human
victims, who died over the past few weeks, were thought to have been
infected through contact with birds.
(AP, 3/15/06)
2006 Mar 21, The WHO said 5
people had died of bird flu in Azerbaijan, raising the worldwide
death toll from the H5N1 strain to 103.
(SFC, 3/22/06, p.A4)
2006 May 23, Iran’s government
closed one of the country's top three newspapers, detaining its
editor and cartoonist for publishing a caricature that caused
members of Iran's Azeri minority to riot in protest.
(AP, 5/23/06)
2006 May 28, A new $4 billion
pipeline from Baku, via Georgia to Ceyhan, Turkey, began pumping
oil.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.48)
2006 Jun 3, The long-awaited
first shipment of Caspian oil from the new Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
pipeline got on its way from a Turkish port.
(AFP, 6/4/06)
2006 Jun 8, In Azerbaijan the
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Valdas Adamkus of
Lithuania met in the presence of the two countries’ delegations
following a one-on-one meeting.
(http://tinyurl.com/ffjol)
2006 Jun 14, Azerbaijan and
Armenia promised to continue talks over Nagorno-Karabakh despite two
failed efforts this year by the Caucasus nations' presidents to
resolve the status of the disputed enclave.
(AP, 6/14/06)
2006 Jul 13, The presidents of
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia formally opened a pipeline designed
to bypass Russia and bring Caspian oil to Europe, a route that
President Bush said would bolster global energy security.
(AP, 7/13/06)
2006 Oct 25, Azerbaijan’s
broadcasting chief said government authorities will bar Azerbaijan
broadcasters from airing programs of the Voice of America, the BBC
and Radio Liberty starting next year.
(AP, 10/25/06)
2006 Nov 10, Asian nations
reached their first international agreement to implement what has
been dubbed the "Iron Silk Road." Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia,
China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea,
Turkey and seven other nations agreed to meet at least every two
years to identify vital rail routes, coordinate standards and
financing and plan upgrades and expansions, among other measures.
The UN first conceived the Trans-Asian Railway Network in 1960.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 24, Authorities cut
off broadcasts from Azerbaijan's first independent TV station and
ordered the eviction of opposition newspapers and organizations from
their offices in the capital, moves government opponents called part
of a campaign to silence dissent.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Dec 11, In Azerbaijan
authorities said they would allow a top independent TV station back
on the air, but warned that it would have to bid for a broadcasting
license next year.
(AP, 12/11/06)
2007 Feb 10, Azerbaijan’s
population, at about 8 million, was mostly Shia Muslim.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.49)
2007 Mar 19, In Azerbaijan 2
journalists accused of inciting religious hatred with an article
that criticized Islam went on trial, both accusing authorities of
waging a politically motivated prosecution.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Apr, in Azerbaijan
journalist Eynulla Fatullayev was imprisoned. He was soon sentenced
to 8-1/2 years in jail on charges of terrorism, incitement of ethnic
hatred and tax evasion. In December 2009 new charges of illegal
possession of drugs were brought against him.
(Reuters, 6/3/10)
2007 May 4, Two Azerbaijani
journalists were convicted and sentenced to prison for inciting
hatred with an article criticizing Islam.
(AP, 5/4/07)
2007 Jun 7, Russian President
Vladimir Putin, bitterly opposed to a US missile shield in Europe,
told President Bush that Moscow would drop its objections if the
radar-based system were installed in Azerbaijan.
(AP, 6/7/07)
2007 Jun 8, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan is ready to consider proposed
joint US-Russian use of a radar facility in the country as part of a
missile defense system.
(AP, 6/8/07)
2007 Jun 17, Iran said it had
received indications from Russia's president that he would not
follow through with an offer to allow the US to use a radar station
in neighboring Azerbaijan for missile defense against Tehran.
(AP, 6/17/07)
2007 Jun 19, Georgia border
agents blocked a car trying to smuggle radioactive plutonium and
beryllium from Azerbaijan.
(WSJ, 6/20/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 19, The
Armenian-controlled breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh held a
presidential election amid a rumbling dispute with Azerbaijan over
the mountainous enclave's unrecognized independence.
(AP, 7/19/07)
2007 Jul 20, An election
committee said Bako Saakian, Nagorno-Karabakh's former security
chief, won the presidency of the Armenian-controlled breakaway
region with 85% of the vote.
(AP, 7/20/07)
2007 Aug 28, In Azerbaijan a
16-story high-rise under construction in Baku collapsed killing at
least 12 people and leaving others trapped in the rubble. The head
of the construction company and another company executive were
arrested. They began construction of the building in 2002 without
authorization.
(SFC, 8/29/07, p.A3)(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Sep 4, A skirmish near the
disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh killed two Azerbaijani
soldiers and three Armenian troops.
(AP, 9/5/07)
2007 Sep 7, Bako Saakian, the
former security chief of Nagorno-Karabakh, was sworn as the new
president of the Armenian-controlled breakaway region.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Oct 10, Ministers from
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed a deal to
build an oil pipeline linking the Black and Baltic seas.
(WSJ, 10/11/07, p.A18)
2007 Oct 29, In Azerbaijan the
US and British embassies suspended operations in Baku, where the
government said it thwarted a radical Islamic group's plot to
conduct a "large-scale horrifying terror attack" against diplomatic
missions and government buildings. One suspect was killed and
several others were detained in a weekend sweep in village outside
the capital.
(AP, 10/29/07)
2007 Oct 30,
An Azerbaijani newspaper editor was sentenced to 8 1/2 years
in prison over an article alleging that the former Soviet republic
could support a US attack on neighboring Iran. The Court for Grave
Crimes convicted Eynulla Fatullayev, the founder and editor of two
independent newspapers that stopped publication this spring amid
government pressure, on charges of making a terrorist threat and
inciting interethnic conflict.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Nov 21, The presidents of
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey launched the construction of a
railroad that will link ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus and
Central Asia with Europe, bypassing Russia.
(AP, 11/21/07)
2007 Dec 28, Azerbaijan's
president issued a decree granting amnesty to 119 prison inmates,
including several journalists whose convictions drew protests from
international rights groups.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2008 Mar 4, Ethnic Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces exchanged fire for hours near the disputed
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan warned it could try to
reclaim the disputed region. Soldiers were killed and wounded on
both sides. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said in a statement that
its two Armenian affiliates halted the broadcasts to comply with an
emergency decree that allows media to only report news that is
sanctioned by the government.
(AP, 3/5/08)(WSJ, 3/5/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 14, The UN General
Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the "immediate, complete and
unconditional" withdrawal of all Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's
territory in a vote in which more than 100 countries abstained.
(AFP, 3/15/08)
2008 Mar 15, Azerbaijan warned
it would review relations with France, Russia and the US after they
voted against a UN resolution calling on Armenia to pull out of
Azerbaijani territory.
(AFP, 3/15/08)
2008 March 29, Azerbaijan
customs halted a shipment of Russian equipment for Iran’s first
nuclear power plant. The equipment was released May 1.
(WSJ, 5/2/08, p.A8)
2008 Sep 3, US Vice President
Dick Cheney assured Azerbaijan of America's "abiding interest" in
the region's stability. It was the first stop on a tour of three
ex-Soviet republics that are wary of Russia's intentions after its
war with Georgia last month.
(AP, 9/4/08)
2008 Oct 15, Authorities in
Azerbaijan said turnout was high in a presidential election
boycotted by the opposition and almost certain to return Ilham
Aliyev for a second term in the oil-producing state. President Ilham
Aliyev had 89% of the vote with 70% of precincts reporting.
(AP, 10/15/08)(AP, 10/16/08)
2008 Oct 25, Muslim Magomayev
(66), an Azeri-born Soviet-era opera and pop singer, died in Moscow.
His fame was at its peak in the 1960s and 70s.
(AP, 10/25/08)
2008 Nov 2, The leaders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to intensify talks to end a 20-year
conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
(AP, 11/2/08)
2008 Nov 14, Azerbaijan
lawmakers voted 86-1 to back President Ilham Aliev's request to
withdraw the 150 troops serving as part of the US-led coalition in
Iraq.
(AP, 11/14/08)
2008 Dec 26, Azerbaijan's
parliament voted to hold a referendum next year on constitutional
changes that could allow incumbent President Ilham Aliyev to stay in
power when his current mandate runs out.
(AFP, 12/26/08)
2009 Jan 20, The head of US
Central Command said the US has struck deals with Russia and
neighboring countries allowing it to transport supplies to American
troops in Afghanistan through their territory. US officials have
said that one likely route is overland from Russia through
Kazakhstan and on through Uzbekistan using trucks and trains.
Another possible route is via Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea to
the Kazakh port of Aktau and then through Uzbekistan.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Feb 11, In Azerbaijan a
gunman fatally shot air force chief Lt. Gen. Rail Rzayev (63)
outside his home. He had represented Azerbaijan in talks with Russia
and the US on Moscow's 2007 proposal to make a Soviet-built radar
station in Azerbaijan.
(AP, 2/11/09)
2009 Mar 18, Azerbaijan
citizens overwhelmingly voted to scrap presidential term limits in
the oil-rich country courted by Russia and the West. Opposition
leaders claimed the constitutional referendum was rigged and vowed
to dispute the outcome in court. A small European observer mission
said, however, that the vote was transparent and it had seen no
violations.
(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Apr 30, In Azerbaijan
Georgian citizen Farda Gadyrov (20) opened fire at the prestigious
oil industry academy in Baku, killing 12 people and wounding 13
before turning the gun on himself.
(Reuters, 4/30/09)(AP, 5/1/09)
2009 May 7, The European Union
extended its hand to former Soviet republics, holding a summit to
draw them closer into the EU orbit despite Russia's deep misgivings.
Presidents, premiers and their deputies from 33 nations signed an
agreement meant to extend the EU's political and economic ties. The
six ex-Soviet republics to whom the partnership would apply are
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 Jul 8, Azerbaijan police
arrested Adnan Hadzhizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!"
opposition movement, and Emin Milli, a youth activist who also runs
an Internet TV program, after a fight in a Baku cafe with two
unknown men. Both were charged with hooliganism. A Baku court
decision soon ordered two months of pretrial detention for Milli and
Hadzhizade, which prompted criticism from international journalism
advocates.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 31, UN human rights
experts asked Azerbaijan to stop curbing free speech and to protect
journalists from harassment, violence and even murder.
(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2010 Feb 12 In Azerbaijan
lawmakers revised the country’s media laws to forbid journalists
from filming, recording or photographing subjects without their
permission.
(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 27, Iran used an
ancient new year celebration to reach out to Afghanistan,
Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey at a summit
meeting that projected Iranian leadership in the strategic region
straddling the Middle East and Central Asia.
(AP, 3/27/10)
2010 Jun 3, In Azerbaijan
journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, jailed since 2007, went on a hunger
strike demanding his release after Europe's top human rights court
in April ruled that his imprisonment was illegal.
(Reuters, 6/3/10)
2010 Jun 6, US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates hand delivered a letter from Pres. Obama to
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting to improve
relations with the former Soviet republic that helps move supplies
and soldiers to the US-led war in landlocked Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 7, Turkey and
Azerbaijan signed a long-awaited deal on the transit of gas to
Europe seen as crucial to plans to reduce the continent's dependence
on Russian gas.
(AFP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 18-2010 Jun 19, A
firefight between Armenia and Azerbaijan left 5 people dead in
northern Karabakh.
(Econ, 7/10/10,
p.54)(www.eurasianet.org/node/61373)
2010 Nov 7, Azerbaijan voted in
parliamentary elections set to cement President Ilham Aliyev's grip
on power but condemned by the opposition as a charade whose results
have already been decided. Nearly 700 candidates competed for the
125 seats in the single chamber of the parliament. Azerbaijan's
ruling party won a landslide victory. The next day international
vote monitors said that ballot box stuffing and an uneven playing
field for candidates marred Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections.
(AFP, 11/7/10)(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 16, The UN Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized everything
from the growing of corn, beans and chilies to Mexican dishes
prepared with grinding stones and mortars as an ancient process
worth safeguarding in the face of encroaching global influences.
France's multi-course gastronomic meal, Flamenco in Spain and
carpet-weaving in Azerbaijan also made the list.
(AP, 11/17/10)
2010 Thomas de Waal authored
“The Caucasus: An Introduction.”
(Econ, 10/23/10, p.102)
2011 Feb 20, In Azerbaijan 7
teenage soldiers were killed at a military base in the west of the
country. Local media saying a soldier went on a rampage before
turning the gun on himself.
(AP, 2/21/11)
2011 Apr 2, Azerbaijan police
arrested dozens of protesters who rallied for democratic reforms in
the authoritarian republic.
(AP, 4/2/11)
2011 Jun 24, The presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to approve a set of basic principles
for a peaceful settlement to their long-standing dispute over the
breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, despite US and Russian
efforts to mediate the conflict in the strategic Caucasus region.
(AP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jul 6, In Afghanistan an
Azerbaijani cargo plane carrying supplies for the Afghan NATO
mission crashed into treacherous mountains killing all nine crew on
board outside Kabul. The nine crew were from Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan. The plane was operated by private Azerbaijani airline
Silk Way.
(AFP, 7/6/11)
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