Thousands of protesters set off on a march through Azerbaijan's capital yesterday, answering the call by Azerbaijan's main opposition movement to come into the streets to defend their right to free and fair elections.
The protest was the first test of the opposition's ability to mobilize supporters following last week-end's flawed parliamentary elections, and the movement hoped it would generate unstoppable mom-entum. However, only several thousand people took part at the march's beginning, far short of the 30,000 to 50,000 the opposition had hoped to assemble. Others could join the march as it approaches one of the city's main squares.
The rally, which authorities have limited to three hours, is likely to provide several gauges of how the political climate will develop: how many supporters the opposition can marshal, whether their anger explodes into confrontation with police and how harshly security forces respond to any unauthorized actions.
Quiet walk
The march began calmly, with participants walking quietly down a four-lane road closed off to traffic.
"The opposition will try to mount continual protests," participant Siyasat Huseynov of the Liberal Party said. "No doubt there will be official repression, as always."
The opposition coalition Azadliq that called for the march is trying to emulate the movements that brought opposition leaders to power after disputed elections in Georgia and Ukraine, and many of yesterday's marchers were waving flags of orange, the emblematic color of last year's massive protests in Ukraine.
Yet it lacks some of the key strengths that bolstered protests in other ex-Soviet republics: the skillful organization that carried the day in Ukraine and the wide popular allegiance the leaders enjoyed in Georgia.
The government clearly has the upper hand, including a tight grip on state media and control over some 30 percent of the jobs in the country, analysts say.
Azadliq planned a 3km march from a subway station on the outskirts of the capital Baku, to Gelebe Square.
"People are afraid to go to this rally," said Fargana Abdulayeva, a 24-year-old interpreter and opposition supporter in Baku. "People who have government jobs are afraid of losing them."
Tariyel Akhanshev, a 19-year old disc jockey, said he hadn't bothered to vote and would not join the protest.
"What will it change?" he asked.
The government of President Ilham Aliev -- as that of his late father Geidar Aliev before him -- has persecuted the opposition, banning demonstrations, jailing its activists and directing state-run television to smear its leaders. He has accused one opposition leader in exile, Rasul Guliyev, of masterminding a coup attempt last month.
Claimed victory
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party on Tuesday claimed the victory, winning 63 of the 125 seats in the legislature, according to preliminary official results.
The opposition did chalk up some victories, however. The Central Election Commission annulled the results of Sunday's vote in two electoral districts and ordered a recount in a third.
The races earlier had been declared won by pro-government candidates.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS