Several thousand Azerbaijani nationalists rallied in their capital Saturday to demand the resignations of their legislators in Moscow and recognition for an independent political group, an activist said.
Aidun Amirbekov, who identified himself as a representative of the People's Front of Azerbaijan, said the protest on Baku's central Lenin Square was organized by his group. About 5,000 people held national flags and slogans demanding more freedom for the southwestern republic, he said.The People's Front is demanding that the republic's representatives in the Congress of Peoples' Deputies parliament in Moscow resign because "they didn't say anything" at the last session, said Amirbekov. He did not elaborate.
Azerbaijan, which is mainly Moslem, has been embroiled in a dispute with neighboring Armenia over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Nagorno-Karabakh is part of the Azerbaijan republic, but its population is predominantly Armenian. Armenia, which is mainly Christian, wants to annex it.
The dispute has turned violent several times in the last 18 months. Scores of people have been killed, and thousands have fled their homes.
Amirbekov said his republic's People's Front, which was formed in December, has urged a compromise in the dispute. People's Front organizations have sprung up in many of the 15 Soviet republics.