- Title: AZERBAIJAN: Police clash with protesters in capital Baku
- Date: 26th January 2013
- Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (JANUARY 26, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GROUP OF PROTESTERS CHANTING IN AZERBAIJANI, 'ISMAILI WOKE UP, BAKU SUPPORTS IT' AS POLICE GRAB AND SURROUND ACTIVISTS YOUNG WOMAN BEING GRABBED BY OFFICERS AND DRAGGED AWAY POLICE IN RIOT GEAR BEATING MAN LAYING ON GROUND AND DRAGGING HIM AWAY PROTESTERS CLASHING WITH MEN WEARING BLACK LEATHER JACKETS, PRESUMABLY PO
- Embargoed: 10th February 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Azerbaijan
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVAE5RBO4YY9OYQXXVRTAO7PR0VL
- Story Text: Riot police in the Azerbaijani capital Baku clashed right at the start of a rally on Saturday (January 26) with protesters who were called by social media to support of thousands of protesters broken down by tear gas and water cannons this week in the northwest town of Ismaili.
Protesters in Ismaili threw stones and burned cars and residences earlier this week in a street demonstration criticising local authorities.
On Saturday, dozens of protesters, chanting "Ismaili woke up, Baku supports it", took to streets of Baku, trying to reach the capital's Fountain Square, but police in riot gear barred their way and detained participants.
Uniformed police, protesters and men wearing black leather jackets, who were thought to be undercover policemen, clashed, throwing punches and kicks.
Mass protests are rare in the oil-producing former Soviet republic and may send a worrying signal to the autocratic President Ilham Aliyev in an election year.
The rioting in Ismaili began after a street brawl, but dozens of other people were then sucked into it and police intervention failed to cool tempers.
As a result some 3,000 participated, setting fire to a hotel belonging to one of the fight participants, torching cars and then moving on to the home of the regional governor to demand his resignation.
Most of the protesters complained of unemployment, poverty and an atmosphere of fear in the region. There were no other political demands at the protest, the witnesses said. Protesters believed a relative of the governor might have been involved in the incident that led to the rioting.
Squeezed in the Caucasus region between Russia, Iran and Turkey, Azerbaijan supplies Caspian oil and gas to Europe and serves as a transit hub for U.S. troops based in Afghanistan - a role its critics say limits Western powers' willingness to sanction Azerbaijan for human rights abuses. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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