Azerbaijan: Splits at the Top

A fight on the floor of parliament and the subsequent arrest of a deputy have exposed increasing tensions within the once monolithic governing elite in Azerbaijan.



During a debate on March 16 on the government’s report on its activities, parliamentary deputy Husein Abdullayev, formerly a loyal supporter of the government, launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Artur Rasizade and his cabinet.



The speaker tried in vain to get Abdullayev to calm down, and pro-governmental members responded to his tirade.



The exchange of angry words ended in a fight between Abdullayev and Fazail Agamaly, the head of the pro-government Ana Vatan (Motherland) party. The younger and more athletic Abdullayev sent the other man crashing onto a table and then left the chamber.



Agamaly apologised to members of the government, deputies and guests for the incident, saying, “Someone had to stop this ill-mannered man, and that’s what I did.



“Everyone can see that he’s gathered a gang of cut-throats around him. The law-enforcement bodies know that and should take serious action.”



Three days later, Abdullayev was summoned to the prosecutor’s office and arrested for hooliganism and assault. Later, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and given two months’ pre-trial detention in Baku’s Bailovo prison.



Eynulla Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of Realny Azerbaijan newspaper and a friend of Abdullayev, told IWPR how the arrest happened. He said Abdullayev had been on his way to a meeting with diplomats from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe when he was stopped by a group of men who asked to see his documents, then seized him, pushed him into a car and drove him to the prosecutor general’s office.



Fatullayev said that his friend had been expecting to be arrested even before the fight in parliament, and described that incident as a “provocation”.



“Sources in the government told him as much. They forced Abdullayev to choose between leaving Azerbaijan and going to prison. He wanted to stay and carry on his struggle, and he asked me for advice. I said, ‘You’ve already made your move, so you have to fight to the end.’”



Abdullayev is now also being investigated for tax evasion.



As often happens in Azerbaijan, relatives of a disgraced public figure are suffering alongside him. On March 26, Husein Abdullayev’s brother Azer was sacked from his post as head of the anti-smuggling department at airport customs.



Husein Abdullayev can lay claim to being the first of the oligarchs in post-independence Azerbaijan. In 1992, his fortune was estimated at five million US dollars, a huge sum for that time. He set up a big trading company, called Nakhichevan after his home region, and was a major player in the oil business.



He is now head of a large private security agency.



In recent years Abdullayev has moved into politics and was an ardent supporter of the late president Heidar Aliev, who also came from Nakhichevan. He personally led an armed group that broke up opposition protests.



In 2005, he was elected to parliament as an independent deputy.



However, the political landscape has changed since Ilham Aliev succeeded his father Heidar in 2003, and in his new role as legislator Abdullayev did not toe the government line.



He first caused a stir in parliament last year, when he demanded that Interior Minister Ramil Usubov give a report on the case of Haji Mamedov, a police colonel who had recently been given a life sentence after years of collusion with criminal gangs.



Abdullayev is only one of a number of politicians who have quarreled with their former allies in the government and presidential administration. Several of them have ended up in jail.



Former health minister Ali Insanov was arrested on the eve of the October 2005 parliamentary election and accused of plotting a coup d’etat. The charges against him have changed since he has been in detention, and he is now accused of corruption, embezzlement of state funds and abuse of power.



Insanov’s court appearances have attracted much public attention, since he was one of the founders of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party and was considered the leader of a large influential “clan” in government drawn from Azerbaijanis with roots in Armenia. In court, Insanov has accused his accusers of being politically motivated and of “anti-state activities”.



Insanov’s supporters have joined protests by the opposition party Musavat, which has held three political rallies this year.



Musavat and another opposition party, the Popular Front, are now also demanding the release of Abdullayev.



Another ex-minister, Farhad Aliev, also arrested in October 2005, is also due to stand trial soon. Analysts believe his arrest marked the start of a period of strife within the governing elite.



Political expert Eldar Namazov said the feuding was almost inevitable.



“No political reforms have been carried out in Azerbaijan since 2003,” he said. “Heidar Aliev controlled the system by virtue of his personal authority. The system ran on autopilot for several years after he died.



“Now it’s begun to crumble from within. Even those who built this power structure are worried about the situation.”



Namazov said the breakdown of the elite was a long drawn-out process, but might pick up speed as circumstances changed.



“Every day there are new scandals and rows,” he said. “People who used to be strong supporters of the authorities are now strongly criticising them. They cannot stand the situation any longer, and they are speaking out.”



Abdullayev has complained that he is being held in poor conditions and is being subjected to pressure by the prison authorities. He met the head of Azerbaijan’s Anti-Torture Committee on March 22 and has appealed to international organisations to help him fight what he says is an illegal arrest.



Boyukaga Agayev is a correspondent with the Azadliq newspaper and head of the South Caucasus Research Centre in Baku.