AZERBAIJANI INTERNAL FORCES FIRE ON THE PROTESTORS
18:28, 24 January, 2013
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: Azeri internal forces used tear
gas, water cannon and opened fire on the demonstration to disperse
hundreds of protesters demanding a local leader's resignation on
Thursday after cars and a hotel were torched in a night of rioting.
As reports Armenpress referring to haqqin.az mass protests are rare
in Azerbaijan and the crowds' complaints about wages, unemployment
and oppressive government may send a worrying signal to autocratic
President Ilham Aliyev in an election year.
As reports Armenpress at least one building on fire and the burning
carcasses of vehicles set ablaze by rioters on Wednesday night in
the town of Ismaili, 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the capital
Baku.Police said protesters and police were injured and reinforcements
brought in from outside the town to help restore order. Azerbaijan's
Turan news agency quoted witnesses as saying the protests ended only
after tear gas and water cannon were used.
The rioting began after a hotel owner drove his car into an electricity
pole and got into a fight with a driver whose vehicle was parked
nearby, witnesses said.
About 3,000 people went to the driver's hotel, set fire to it and
torched cars in the courtyard, before moving on to the home of regional
governor Nizami Alekperov's son, where a car and two motorcycles were
set ablaze.
"We are annoyed with unemployment, poverty and an atmosphere of fear,"
one resident, who declined to be identified, told Turan.
From: A. Papazian
18:28, 24 January, 2013
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: Azeri internal forces used tear
gas, water cannon and opened fire on the demonstration to disperse
hundreds of protesters demanding a local leader's resignation on
Thursday after cars and a hotel were torched in a night of rioting.
As reports Armenpress referring to haqqin.az mass protests are rare
in Azerbaijan and the crowds' complaints about wages, unemployment
and oppressive government may send a worrying signal to autocratic
President Ilham Aliyev in an election year.
As reports Armenpress at least one building on fire and the burning
carcasses of vehicles set ablaze by rioters on Wednesday night in
the town of Ismaili, 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the capital
Baku.Police said protesters and police were injured and reinforcements
brought in from outside the town to help restore order. Azerbaijan's
Turan news agency quoted witnesses as saying the protests ended only
after tear gas and water cannon were used.
The rioting began after a hotel owner drove his car into an electricity
pole and got into a fight with a driver whose vehicle was parked
nearby, witnesses said.
About 3,000 people went to the driver's hotel, set fire to it and
torched cars in the courtyard, before moving on to the home of regional
governor Nizami Alekperov's son, where a car and two motorcycles were
set ablaze.
"We are annoyed with unemployment, poverty and an atmosphere of fear,"
one resident, who declined to be identified, told Turan.
From: A. Papazian