Isgandar Hamidov

Isgandar Majid oglu Hamidov (Azerbaijani: İsgəndər Məcid oğlu Həmidov)[1] (also transliterated as Iskender Majid oglu Hamidov[2] or Iskander Medjid oglu Hamidov;[3] April 10, 1948 in Bağlıpəyə village, Kalbajar rayon[3] – February 26, 2020 in Baku) was an Azerbaijani politician, Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan who served in the Popular Front government of 1992–1993.[4] He was a nationalist and anti-communist.[5] He played a key role in preventing Ayaz Mutallibov's 1992 self-coup.[5]

When Ayaz Mutallibov, first president of Azerbaijan, cancelled presidential elections which were set to take place on June 7, 1992, Hamidov marched with an armed force to confront Mutallibov. Mutallibov subsequently fled the country and Isa Gambar was made acting president. Gambar reinstated the upcoming presidential elections which were won by Abulfaz Elchibey.[6]

As Minister of Internal Affairs, Hamidov sought to clamp down on the black market in Azerbaijan.[7] Isgandar Hamidov resigned in April 1993.

As a chairman of Azerbaijan National Democrat Party, informally known as the Grey Wolves, Hamidov pleaded for the creation of a unified Turkic country[8] which would include northern Iran and extend itself to Siberia, India and China. He was known to have threatened Armenia with a nuclear strike.[8][9] He had also supported Chechnya in the First Chechen war as part of the Grey Wolves and played a major role in the First Nagorno-Karabakh war.[10][11]

Historian Audrey Altstadt writes of Hamidov's military tenure,[5]

Compared with the many men who had given themselves the title of “colonel” after building a private army with the accumulated bribes of their Soviet- era jobs, Hamidov had earned his living and his rank. He had the paramilitary training of the regular police and through years of service had achieved the rank of colonel. He commanded the personal loyalty of thousands of will- ing fighters.

In 1995, he was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzlement of state funds [4] but was essentially treated as a political prisoner by the Amnesty International[12] and the Council of Europe.[13] He was pardoned by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev in 2004.[citation needed]

He died in April 10, 2020. He was 72

  1. ^ (in Azerbaijani) Daxili İşlər Nazirliyi : DİN-in tarixi Archived 2006-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Historic background of the MIA Archived 2006-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Eldar Zeynalov (December 28, 1996). "The Case of Iskander Hamidov: A mirror of human rights violations in Azerbaijan". Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan (HRCA). Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  4. ^ a b Fariz Ismailzade (January 14, 2004). "Iskandar Hamidov is free. What is next for him?". Central Asia and Caucasus Analyst. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  5. ^ a b c Altstadt, Audrey L. (2017). Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Columbia University Press. p. 53. doi:10.7312/alts70456. ISBN 978-0-231-70456-4.
  6. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (2017). Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Columbia University Press. p. 20. doi:10.7312/alts70456. ISBN 978-0-231-70456-4.
  7. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (1997), Parrott, Bruce; Dawisha, Karen (eds.), "Azerbaijan's struggle toward democracy", Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–155, ISBN 978-0-521-59731-9
  8. ^ a b Martin A. Lee (March 1997). "Les liaisons dangereuses de la police turque". Le Monde diplomatique (in French): 9. Ce dernier choisit comme ministre de l'intérieur M. Iskender Gamidov, un extrémiste incontrôlable affichant son appartenance aux Loups gris et plaidant ouvertement pour la création d'une Grande Turquie qui comprendrait le nord de l'Iran et s'étendrait jusqu'à la Sibérie, l'Inde et la Chine. Il fut forcé de démissionner en avril 1993 après avoir menacé l'Arménie d'une attaque nucléaire.
  9. ^ Dawisha, Karen and Bruce Parrott, Conflict, cleavage, and change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, (Cambridge University Press, 1997), 136.
  10. ^ Goltz, Thomas (2003). Chechnya diary : a war correspondent's story of surviving the war in Chechnya. Internet Archive. New York : Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-26874-9.
  11. ^ Muhammad Abdel, Maguid (11 May 2017). "Grey Wolves in Syria". CNN.
  12. ^ Amnesty International. "Political prisoners in Azerbaijan and Armenia", 20 January 2002 Archived 3 October 2003 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Amnesty International. "Concerns in Europe and Central Asia", July–December 2003 Archived 2006-03-26 at the Wayback Machine