Heydar Aliyev - Fall and Re-invention

Fall and Re-invention

After his forced retirement in 1987, Aliyev remained in Moscow till 1990. He suffered a heart attack during this time. Aliyev briefly appeared in the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan SSR in Moscow, opposing the Soviet reassertion of control in Baku, a military action which resulted in violent Black January events amidst the brewing Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Almost immediately after this public appearance in Moscow, Aliyev officially denounced his membership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and left Moscow for his native Nakhchivan. Here, Aliyev reinvented himself as a moderate nationalist and was subsequently elected as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR in Baku. Under the pressure and criticism from the groups connected to his nemesis, then-leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov, Aliyev again returned to Nakhchivan, where he was elected a Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in 1991.

By December 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist and Azerbaijan became formally an independent state, and despite Mutallibov's presidency, Aliyev independently governed Nakhchivan. The period of early 1992 was marked by increased violence in Nagorno-Karabakh War with the fall of Shusha, the last Azerbaijani-populated town in Nagorno-Karabakh. These events resulted in resignation of Mutallibov and subsequent rise to power of Azerbaijan Popular Front led by Abulfaz Elchibey. During Elchibey's one year in power, Aliyev continued to govern Nakhchivan without any subordination to official government in Baku. The attempt by the Popular Front's Minister of Interior Isgandar Hamidov to forcefully overthrow Aliyev in Nakhchivan were thwarted by local militia in the regional airport. During the same period, Aliyev independently negotiated cease-fire agreement in Nakhchivan with then Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossian.

On 9 June 1993, after the military coup in Ganja, led by Colonel Suret Huseynov, Abulfaz Elchibey was forced to invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku for mediating the crisis. On 24 June 1993, amidst the advancement of insurgent forces under Huseynov's control towards Baku, Elchibey fled the city to his native village of Keleki in Nakhchivan. Earlier, on 15 June 1993 Aliyev was elected to become a Chairman of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and after Elchibey's flight he also assumed temporary presidential powers. In August 1993, Elchibey was stripped of his presidency by the nationwide referendum and Aliyev was elected a President of Azerbaijan in October 1993.

Aliyev also tried but failed to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh War, which, by the end of summer 1993, resulted in the loss of some 13% of Azerbaijan's territory, estimated 30,000 deaths and displacement of over 600,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis. Attempting a military counter offensive in December 1993, Azerbaijani forces failed to return control of parts of Fuzuli, Khojavend and Kalbajar, ending up with heavy human losses. In May 1994, Aliyev settled for a ceasefire agreement which remains in force until now. The issue remains unresolved, with Armenians control over Nagorno-Karabakh, about 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Azerbaijan as a result of the war.