Isa Gambar

Isa Yunis oglu Qambar (Azerbaijani: İsa Yunis oğlu Qəmbər / Иса Jунис оғлу Гәмбәр), also known as Isa Gambar or Isa Qambar (born February 24, 1957), is a prominent Azerbaijani politician and leader of the Equality Party (Müsavat), the largest opposition block in Azerbaijan.

Isa Gambar
Gambar in 2016
President of Azerbaijan Acting
In office May 19, 1992 – June 16, 1992
Preceded by	Ayaz Mutallibov
Succeeded by	Abulfaz Elchibey
Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan
In office May 18, 1992 – June 13, 1993
Preceded by	Yagub Mammadov
Succeeded by	Heydar Aliyev
Personal details
Born	İsa Yunis oğlu Qəmbər (1957-02-24) February 24, 1957 Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Azerbaijani
Political party	Müsavat
Spouse(s)	Aida Bağırova
Children	2
Signature

Biography details

1974	Finished Baku High School No. 62
1979	Graduated from the Faculty of History, Baku State University (BSU)
1979–1982	Worked at the Nakhichevan Research Center
1982–1990	Azerbaijan's Academy of Sciences Researched at the Institute of Oriental Studies
1989–1991	Academy of Sciences and one of the founders and leaders of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA)
1990–1991	Deputy Chairman of PFA
1990	Member of Parliament (MP)
1991–1992	Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations.
1992	Elected Baskan (Chairman) by the Congress of Restoration Committee of Musavat.
May 1992	Elected Parliamentary Speaker
June 16, 1992	Acting President of the Azerbaijan Republic. Prepared the country for democratic election
June 13, 1993	Resigned after overthrow of democratically elected president of Azerbaijan
July 16, 1993	Arrested by the rebel forces that seized the power led by Heydar Aliyev
1999, 2001–2003	Co-Founder and Chairman of the Democratic Congress that included Azerbaijan's leading political parties
2000	Awarded the prize "A Friend of Journalists"
2003	Single presidential candidate for the opposition electoral bloc “Bizim Azərbaycan” (“Our Azerbaijan”) that associated more than 30 parties.

İsa Qambar is married and has two sons. His wife, Aida Bağırova, is a Doctor of History, a Professor at Baku State University.

2003 elections

Human Rights Watch commented on the 2003 elections:

Human Rights Watch research found that the government had heavily intervened in the elections campaign in favour of Prime Minister İlham Aliyev, son of the current President Heydar Aliyev. The government had stacked the Central Election Commission and local election commission with its supporters, and banned local non-governmental organizations from monitoring the vote. As the elections drew nearer, government officials have openly sided with the campaign of İlham Aliyev, constantly obstructing opposition rallies and attempting to limit public participation in opposition events. In some cases, local officials have closed all the roads into town during opposition rallies, or have extended working and school hours, in one case, even declaring a Sunday work day, to prevent participation in opposition rallies. (source: https://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/azerbaijan/index.htm)

2011 protests

Main article: 2011 Azerbaijani protests

In his role as leader of Müsavat, Gambar has played a major part in spring 2011 demonstrations inspired by other protests throughout the Middle East. He and his party have organized protests, occasionally joining with fellow opposition groups like the Popular Front Party to rally in Baku despite a government ban and the steadfast efforts of security forces to disperse gatherings and arrest activists. "There is a criminal, authoritarian and corrupt regime in Azerbaijan, and the people of Azerbaijan no longer want to live under these conditions," Gambar told The New York Times.[1] In early April, Ilkin Gambar, the opposition leader's son currently serving in the Azerbaijani Army, claimed on his Facebook page that he was being sent to the front lines in Azerbaijan's standoff with Armenia and that his father had been "warned" that this could be a result of his continuing involvement in protests. For his part, Isa Gambar said, "The Ministry of Defence has a right to place soldiers in any location at its disposal. So I don't want to politicize this issue."[2]

See also

• President of Azerbaijan
• Politics of Azerbaijan
• National Assembly of Azerbaijan
• Foreign relations of Azerbaijan
• List of political parties in Azerbaijan

References

1. Schwirtz, Michael (4 April 2011). "Opposition in Azerbaijan Vows to Step Up Protests". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
2. Najafli, Leyla (4 April 2011). "Ilkin Gambar sent to the front line – in connection to protests?". WhatWasWritten. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

• Forrest, Brett (Nov. 28, 2005). "Over A Barrel in Baku". Fortune, pp. 54–60.

External links

• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's final report (source: HTML format or PDF format))
• İsa Qəmbər personal web-site with additional information about recent events
• Opposition Leader in the Interview to AIA: "Iran tries to influence the situation in Azerbaijan"
• The Azerbaijani Elections: İsa Qəmbər — Leader of the Largest Opposition Bloc

Political offices
Preceded by Ayaz Mütallibov	President of Azerbaijan May 19, 1992 – June 16, 1992	Succeeded by Abulfaz Elchibey