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© 1997 Reuter
BAKU, July 2 (Reuter) - Azeri President Haydar Aliyev,
reinforcing a mild personality cult, on Wednesday signed a law
making the anniversary of his effective return to power an
annual holdiay.
June 15 will now be known in the former Soviet republic of
eight million people as "National Salvation Day." Parliament,
dominated by Aliyev supporters after a 1995 election viewed as
flawed by international monitors, approved the law last week.
Aliyev, who ruled Azerbaijan as Moscow's viceroy in the
1970s when it was a part of the Soviet Union, returned to the
capital Baku from his home region of Nakhchivan on June 15 in
1993 in the midst of a political crisis and quickly consolidated
power.
Some parliament members had justified the holiday by saying
that Aliyev's return to Baku had prevented a long civil war.
Originally Aliyev was made speaker of parliament by former
President Albufaz Elchibey, who fled an army mutiny into
internal exile several days later. He officially became
president after an election several months later in which he
faced no serious opposition.
Elchibey now accuses him of usurping power.
Aliyev, a master political tactician who is popular with
many Azeris, has been criticised by human rights watchdogs for
taking a heavy-handed approach to opposition groups.
They say he has censored the press and arrested some
opponents on political grounds.
Giant portraits of Aliyev adorn some street corners, as do
his most famous phrases.
His mild cult of personality still pales in comparison with
that of nearby Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov,
whose statue is ubiqitous in the desert nation and after whom
cities have been renamed.
Source: Kevork K. Oskanian
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