Word: azerbaijan
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...rioting in Sumgait, an industrial center in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, was one of the worst known cases of ethnic disorder in Soviet history. Coming after two weeks of nationalist unrest in two southern republics, it confronted Communist Party Leader Mikhail Gorbachev with a problem that is not likely to go away and could blossom into the most serious political crisis of his three years in power...
...east, similar throngs clogged the streets of Stepanakert, capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region, which is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians. In both cities the protesters voiced the same demand: that the Armenian Republic be permitted to annex Nagorno-Karabakh, now part of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. "We've reached our limit," said a Yerevan resident by telephone late last week. "If this is a time for democracy, we want democracy. We want this problem resolved...
...roots of last week's upheaval go back to 1923, when the agricultural region of Nagorno-Karabakh, three-quarters of whose population is Armenian Christians, was made part of the largely Muslim Azerbaijan Republic. Claiming that they are discriminated against by the Azerbaijani majority, Nagorno- Karabakh's 120,000 Armenians have long wanted to meld their 1,760-sq.-mi. enclave into the Armenian Republic. Earlier this month officials of the Armenian Republic proposed annexing Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous backwater that produces grapes, tobacco and livestock. Moscow rejected the request...
Another Andropov man who seems destined for higher office is Aliyev, who hails from the small, predominantly Muslim republic of Azerbaijan, on the Iranian border. A KGB official, he reportedly once declared that Soviet corruption could only be fought with means beyond "socialist legality." Aliyev made his name as first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party; he helped transform the republic's economy from the Soviet Union's slowest to its fastest growing. Among his innovations: productivity bonuses for agricultural workers who exceeded their quotas. "He is an exciting character, a risk taker," says Simes. "I don't know...
...power in the Politburo seemed to tilt in his favor by the appointment of two new men whose careers had been stalled under Brezhnev. Politburo Newcomer Vitali Vorotnikov, 58, joined a number of younger leaders who appeared to owe their growing prominence to the ailing leader. They included former Azerbaijan Party Chief Geidar Aliyev, 60, who was the first Andropov appointee to the party's inner circle, and two technocrats, Nikolai Ryzhkov, 54, and Yegor Ligachev, 64, who were assigned to key posts in the Central Committee...