Thousands Gather in Baku, Calling for Free Elections

By VOA News
19 June 2005

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Azerbaijan’s capital Sunday,
demanding free and fair parliamentary elections in November and
President Ilham Aliyev’s resignation.

The former Soviet republic’s three main opposition parties organized
the rally in Baku – the second mass protest allowed by the government
in the past two weeks.

Inspired by Ukraine’s peaceful “orange revolution” democracy
movement, an estimated 20,000 Azeri demonstrators chanted slogans
in the capital’s main square. Many wore orange clothing and waved
orange banners.

President Aliyev came to power in 2003 in an election after the death
of his father, long-time ruler Heydar Aliyev. Opponents contend the
election was rigged.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region is
holding elections today to fill all 33 seats in a regional legislature.