On May 15, 1992 the Azerbaijani Popular Front forced out President Ayaz Mutalibov, one day after the old communist-dominated parliament had restored him to office, and he fled to Moscow, clearing the way for the nationalist opposition to take power. Mutalibov, the first president of independent Azerbaijan, had resigned in March 1992 under pressure over military failures in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, especially the Khojaly massacre. On May 14, 1992 the Supreme Soviet, dominated by former communists, cleared him of blame and reversed his resignation, and he moved to cancel the scheduled June presidential election.
The next day, May 15, 1992, armed Popular Front forces seized the parliament and the state broadcaster, deposing Mutalibov, who left for Moscow, where he remained in exile for two decades. The Popular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey won the ensuing June election.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Ayaz Mutalibov, deposed on May 15, 1992 by the Popular Front one day after being restored to office; he fled to Moscow.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ayaz Mutalibov (president deposed)
Azerbaijan Popular Front (nationalist opposition that ousted him)
Abulfaz Elchibey (Popular Front leader who then won the presidency)
Sources
On 14 May the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan, dominated by former members of the Communist Party, heard the case on the Khojaly Massacre, relieved Mutallibov of any responsibility, and reversed his prior resignation, restoring him as President, whereupon Mutallibov cancelled the forthcoming presidential elections set for 7 June 1992.
A day later, armed forces led by the Azerbaijan Popular Front under the command of Police Colonel Isgandar Hamidov took control of the offices of the Parliament of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani State Radio and Television, thereby deposing Mutallibov, who left for Moscow.
Amid disorder on the frontline, former Azerbaijani president Ayaz Mutalibov attempted a comeback two months after his resignation in a parliamentary coup on 14 May 1992, resulting in public outrage and the military overthrow of Mutalibov the following day by the Azerbaijani Popular Front, after the Khojaly Massacre and the fall of Shusha and Lachin.
The next day after his restoration, members of the Popular Front organized riots as a result of which Mutalibov was forced to leave the country and become a political emigre, and he has been in exile in Moscow since 1992.
Fate coding: the deposed president Ayaz Mutalibov fled to Moscow on or about May 15, 1992 and remained in exile there for two decades, matching the dataset's fled-the-country fate; he was not physically harmed. Coding note: the dataset labels this a popular revolt with a fled fate; the ouster was carried out by armed Azerbaijan Popular Front forces seizing the parliament and state broadcaster, a nationalist opposition takeover, so it combined popular-nationalist mobilization with an armed seizure of key sites. Nature recorded: the immediate trigger was Mutalibov's restoration by the old communist-dominated parliament on May 14 and his move to cancel the June election, which the Popular Front reversed the next day. Context recorded and handled neutrally: Mutalibov's fall was driven by anger over Azerbaijani defeats in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, especially the February 1992 Khojaly massacre, in which many Azerbaijani civilians were killed; the massacre is recorded as documented context per its sources rather than adjudicated here. Aftermath recorded: the Popular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey won the June 1992 election, becoming the first democratically elected president, later context. This is part of the post-Soviet turmoil across the former USSR in this period. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Ayaz Mutalibov, deposed on May 15, 1992 by the Popular Front one day after being restored to office; he fled to Moscow..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Political Shake-Up Slows Azeri Army,” May 21, 1992
TASS
“Azerbaijani Acting President Addresses Nation on Democracy,” May 28, 1992
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →