Abdurrahman Vazirov Khalil oglu (; 26 May 1930 – 10 January 2022) was the 13th First Secretary of the

Azerbaijan Communist Party The Azerbaijan Communist Party (; ) was the ruling political party in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was formed on 20 February 1920, when ...

and the leader of the

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

from 1988 till January 1990. Vazirov was appointed by Kremlin to lead Soviet Azerbaijan in May 1988, amidst the heating of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

conflict. Vazirov replaced

Kamran Baghirov Kamran Baghirov Mammad oglu (; 24 January 1933 – 25 October 2000), was the 12th First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party. Biography From 3 December 1982, through 21 May 1988, Baghirov served as the First Secretary of the Central Committe ...

, whose dismissal came along with similar dismissal of

Karen Demirchyan Karen Serobi Demirchyan (; 17 April 1932 – 27 October 1999) was a Soviet and Armenian politician who served as President of the National Assembly in 1999 until he was killed in the Armenian parliament shooting. He had been also the First Sec ...

and appointment of

Suren Harutyunyan Surena or Suren, also known as Rustaham Suren (died 53 or 52 BC), was a Parthian ''spahbed'' ("general" or "commander") during the first century BC. He was the leader of the House of Suren and was best known for defeating the Romans in the Battle ...

as the leader of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

. He was a Soviet diplomat, who served in India, Nepal and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He had been out of the Azerbaijan SSR for over a decade and therefore was untainted by the corruption. He was neither a typical political boss nor a local nationalist; he could not even speak fluent Azerbaijani,Robert V. Barylski. "The Russian Federation and Eurasia's Islamic Crescent", ''Europe-Asia Studies'', Vol. 46, No. 3. (1994), p. 397 despite being born in the

region of Azerbaijan. Vazirov shared

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

's internationalist values and aspirations for political reform but he could not cope effectively with the complex political situation in Azerbaijan. He was also known as a fierce opponent of the former leader of Soviet Azerbaijan and later the 3rd president of independent Azerbaijan,

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...

. He left Azerbaijan SSR amidst the Black January events in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, for which he was later sought by the Parliament of Azerbaijan as one of the responsible parties. On 24 January 1990, he was replaced in his position by

Ayaz Mutallibov Ayaz Niyazi oghlu Mutallibov (12 May 1938 – 27 March 2022) was an Azerbaijani politician who served as the first president of Azerbaijan. He was the last leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, and first President of Azerbaijan from 18 May 1990 until 6 M ...

. Vazirov died on 10 January 2022, at the age of 91.

References

External links

YouTube интервью Paxlava Production - Везиров: о дружбе с Гагариным, "письме Алиеву" и Карабахе
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazirov, Abdurrahman 1930 births 2022 deaths Politicians from Baku First secretaries of the Azerbaijan Communist Party Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University alumni Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Eighth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Pakistan Azerbaijani atheists Azerbaijani expatriates in Pakistan Azerbaijani memoirists Soviet diplomats Vazirovs