Isgandar Majid oglu Hamidov (Azerbaijani: İsgəndər Məcid oğlu Həmidov)[1] (also transliterated as Iskender Majid oglu Hamidov[2] or Iskander Medjid oglu Hamidov;[3] April 10, 1948 in Bağlıpəyə village, Kalbajar rayon[3] – February 26, 2020 in Baku) was an Azerbaijani politician, Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan who served in the Popular Front government of 1992–1993.[4] He was a nationalist and anti-communist.[5] He played a key role in preventing Ayaz Mutallibov's 1992 self-coup.[5]
When Ayaz Mutallibov, first president of Azerbaijan, cancelled presidential elections which were set to take place on June 7, 1992, Hamidov marched with an armed force to confront Mutallibov. Mutallibov subsequently fled the country and Isa Gambar was made acting president. Gambar reinstated the upcoming presidential elections which were won by Abulfaz Elchibey.[6]
As Minister of Internal Affairs, Hamidov sought to clamp down on the black market in Azerbaijan.[7] Isgandar Hamidov resigned in April 1993.
Historian Audrey Altstadt writes of Hamidov's military tenure,[5]
Compared with the many men who had given themselves the title of “colonel” after building a private army with the accumulated bribes of their Soviet- era jobs, Hamidov had earned his living and his rank. He had the paramilitary training of the regular police and through years of service had achieved the rank of colonel. He commanded the personal loyalty of thousands of will- ing fighters.
In 1995, he was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzlement of state funds [4] but was essentially treated as a political prisoner by the Amnesty International[12] and the Council of Europe.[13] He was pardoned by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev in 2004.[citation needed]
^Altstadt, Audrey L. (1997), Parrott, Bruce; Dawisha, Karen (eds.), "Azerbaijan's struggle toward democracy", Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–155, ISBN978-0-521-59731-9
^ abMartin A. Lee (March 1997). "Les liaisons dangereuses de la police turque". Le Monde diplomatique (in French): 9. Ce dernier choisit comme ministre de l'intérieur M. Iskender Gamidov, un extrémiste incontrôlable affichant son appartenance aux Loups gris et plaidant ouvertement pour la création d'une Grande Turquie qui comprendrait le nord de l'Iran et s'étendrait jusqu'à la Sibérie, l'Inde et la Chine. Il fut forcé de démissionner en avril 1993 après avoir menacé l'Arménie d'une attaque nucléaire.
^Dawisha, Karen and Bruce Parrott, Conflict, cleavage, and change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, (Cambridge University Press, 1997), 136.