Azerbaijani Popular Front Party
Azərbaycan Xalq Cəbhəsi Partiyası |
|
---|---|
Leader | Ali Karimli |
Founders | Abulfaz Elchibey |
Deputy Chief | Bahaddin Gaziyev |
Founded | 1992 |
Headquarters | Baku, Azerbaijan |
Ideology |
Liberalism Reformism Azerbaijani nationalism Liberal conservatism |
Political position | Centre-right |
European affiliation | Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe |
The Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Xalq Cəbhəsi Partiyası) is an opposition political party in Azerbaijan, founded in 1992 by Abulfaz Elchibey. After Elchibey's death in 2000, the party split into two factions, the reform wing led by Ali Kerimli and the classical wing led by Mirmahmud Miralioglu.
During 5 November 2000 (and 7 January 2001) parliamentary elections, the party won 11.0% of the popular vote and 6 out of 125 seats in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. Its candidate Gudrat Hasanguliyev won only 0.4% of the popular vote in the 15 October 2003 presidential elections. At the parliamentary elections of 6 November 2005, APF joined the Freedom (Azerbaijani: Azadlıq) block but won only one seat.
The Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA) was an organisation in Azerbaijan that united a number of informal public organisations into one, working towards independence from the Soviet Union.
The Popular Front of Azerbaijan was established on July 16, 1988 with the initiative of patriotic Azerbaijani individuals as a result of movement of Azerbaijani people for freedom, sovereignty and democracy. PFA came to unite a number of informal public organizations which were established in the 1980s to struggle for the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union. In 1987 Əli Kərimli, a law school student, became the founder and leader of one of these informal organizations - "Yurd" ("Homeland"), that inspired and led thousands of students to the main square of Baku city to protest against the Communist regime. As a result of this courageous step, a large-scale campaign of public demonstrations and meetings swept across Azerbaijan. Later the movement was suppressed by the special forces of the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs of USSR. Despite this fact, Popular Front of Azerbaijan was established and Yurd became an integral part of this movement.