Abulfaz Elchibey

Abulfaz Gadirgulu oghlu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: Əbülfəz Qədirqulu oğlu Əliyev; 24 June 1938 – 22 August 2000), better known as Abulfaz Elchibey (Azerbaijani: Əbülfəz Elçibəy), was an Azerbaijani politician, Azerbaijani nationalist and Soviet dissident who was the first and only democratically elected President in post-Soviet Azerbaijan. He was the leader of the Azerbaijani Popular Front and played an important role in achieving Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union.

Elchibey was elected as the president of Azerbaijan in independent Azerbaijan's first free election. He served from 17 June 1992 until his overthrow in a 24 June 1993 military coup backed by Russia that led to the installation of Heydar Aliyev as president. Elchibey's brief rule was the only post-Soviet period in which Azerbaijan has been democratic. During his rule, Elchibey sought to dismantle the old communist system domestically, such as the planned economy and the black market. In his foreign policy, he sought to re-orient Azerbaijan to the West. However, Elchibey's attempted reforms were put to a halt by the 1993 coup.

According to historian Audrey Altstadt, Elchibey faced several major problems during his tenure as president: "the war in Nagorno-Karabagh (with loss of land and creation of refugees), inflation and related economic problems (including slow progress on an oil deal with foreign investors), and the remnants of Russian-Soviet control and influence of the old order. The most immediately pressing problem was unrest around Baku." During his tenure, Elchibey had to contend with an administration staffed by former Communists and military forces that were not under his control.

He positioned himself as a pan-Turkist while holding hostile views towards Iran and Russia.