Azerbaijanis hold big rally

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 10

Azerbaijanis hold big rally

NZPA-Reuter Baku Thousands of people waving flags and banners

yesterday packed the central square of Baku, capital of Soviet Azerbaijan, to demand greater autonomy and new parliamentary elections.

Some 35,000 people gathered in Baku’s Lenin Square at the start of the demonstration organised by the fledgling Popular Front movement, which aims to promote economic and political autonomy from Moscow.

Many of the demonstrators waved red, green and white flags with a crescent and star, the flag of Azerbaijan’s brief spell as an independent republic from 1918-20. Activists said their main demands were for an end to Moscow’s direct administration of the disputed Azerbaijani territory of

Nagorno-Karabakh, the cessation of prosecutions against Azerbaijani “patriots” and new parliamentary polls. The term “patriots” is used by activists to describe many of those detained for their part in anti-Armenian riots in the city of Sumgait in February last year, when 32 people were killed by frenzied gangs of youths.

A state of emergency and curfew have been in force in Baku since late last year when more ethnic turmoil broke out over the dispute with neighbouring Armenia on Na-gorno-Karabakh. About 100 people have been killed since the trouble started.

The police made no attempt to intervene in yesterday’s demonstration.