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Clashes Erupt In Azerbaijan Amid Public Protests

March 01, 2012

by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service

QUBA, Azerbaijan -- Security forces have fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a bid to quell an outbreak of rioting in the northeastern Azerbaijani city of Quba after the local governor described residents as "traitors."

Authorities said four people, including three police officers, were injuried. At least one journalist was among those hurt in the clashes between police and protesters.

Thousands of protesters had taken to the streets of Quba to demand the resignation of local Governor Rauf Habibov.

They have broken windows at local government buildings and set fire to a house thought to belong to Habibov.

Additional security forces and armored vehicles were said to be arriving from the capital, Baku, and other regions.

At one point, after water cannon arrived, an RFE/RL correspondent's live video feed from the scene went black after authorities used tear gas on the crowd.

The unrest follows comments from Habibov that appeared on YouTube videos in which he calls Quba residents "traitors" for selling land cheaply to Azeris from other regions.

Habibov met with the protesters earlier on March 1 and offered apologies, but he rejected demands that he step down.

The protest is the largest public demonstration to occur outside Baku since President Ilham Aliyev came to power in 2003. Aliyev and his father, the late President Heydar Aliyev, have both touted perceived stability that their rule has brought to the energy-rich Caucasian country.

"He insulted the people of Quba!" one protester told RFE/RL. "He accused us of treason. Quba residents have always supported our state."

In his speech earlier this week, Habibov accused Quba residents of selling their lands for as little as $40. Some local residents were given land by authorities as part of an ongoing agricultural reform, but many are too poor to cultivate them.

"Quba is a very rich place. Everyone tries to get a place here," Habibov says in the video. "Some men become famous with good deeds, others with bad ones. The Quba people have sold out Quba. The Quba people have sold their lands for 30 or 40 manats. Quba has been sold by the ungrateful men of Quba. The men of Quba have sold their nation, their lands, their families."

Quba is home to 160,000 people.

The Public Chamber opposition coalition condemned the use of force against protesters and said the unrest was a result of the government's "anti-people" policy.

A group on Facebook has called on Azerbaijanis to demonstrate across the nation on March 2 in support of the Quba protesters.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_protests_clashes_rioting/24501167.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.