The real number was more like 5,000, and how many of them were mere passersby is open to question. By no means. What it suggests to me is that the population of Azerbaijan is so utterly exhausted with the political process that, increasingly, no-one cares or believes that caring about anything will result in any positive developments. This is a truly sad state of affairs, and is potentially very destabilizing for the future, when some heretofore unknown Pied Piper arrives on the scene and sings the song the unwashed and unemployed masses want to listen to, and then follow. The Resignation of Vafa Guluzade Anyway, what I find of far keener interest than possibly idle speculation about known personalities who might succeed Aliyev is the recent resignation of presidential adviser Vafa Guluzade.
Exhaustion is clearly a factor.
Guluzade, after all, served not only Aliyev for six years, but Elchibey before him and Mutalibov before that, not to speak of the various temporary presidents Azerbaijan has enjoyed in between coups. Vafa has been telling me about his intention to resign due to 'health reasons' for years. The negotiations he has been involved with for eight years over Karabakh were clearly another reason. I do not have much doubt that Vafa was starting to feel a little queasy about being identified with whatever peace document his boss Heydar and Robert Kocharian have been cooking up. But I believed Vafa when he told me that the thing that pushed him beyond complaining in action was and is the current Russian push against Chechnya.