Campaigns to discredit Heydar Aliyev and their collapse

Abstract

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of perestroika and glasnost provided favorable conditions for the development of the Karabakh movement, the purpose of which was the annexation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijani SSR to the Armenian SSR. One of the phases of this movement was the campaign to bring to trial Heydar Aliyev, which was conceived and launched by Igor Muradian. Another campaign to discredit H. Aliyev was organized by former high-ranking officials of the party and government bodies of Azerbaijan, who were removed from their posts by Heydar Aliyev in the 1970s. The analysis of numerous archival documents, which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, give grounds to assert that these campaigns did not play any role in the removal of Heydar Aliyev from the highest echelon of power in the country.