Ali Hasanov was part of the old elite that has been systematically sidelined over the past two years in favor of officials associated with the president's wife.
The restoration has sparked arguments about whether the mosque should be considered “Persian” or “Azerbaijani,” and some locals question whether the Armenian-controlled territory should be rebuilding its mosques at all.
Will the new parliament be the same rubber stamp as the current one? Will it pave the way for the country’s vice president and first lady to take over?
Earlier this year, both sides appeared to be trying to turn down the temperature on their grievances against the other. But now the momentum seems to be going in the other direction.
The authorities had forbidden opposition parties from organizing a rally in the center of the city, but they attempted to go ahead anyway. Scores were reportedly detained.
The Turkic history of the khanate – on the territory of modern-day Armenia’s capital – has emerged as one of the Azerbaijani government’s main ideological weapons.
Two months after Armenia’s prime minister controversially declared that “Karabakh is Armenia – period,” Azerbaijan’s president has finally delivered his emphatic retort.
