After the discovery of oil fields, Baku became a special place, where various economic and political interests of international coalitions, industrial clans and leaders were concentrated and clashed. VK begins publishing chapters from the book by Ismail Agakishiyev "History of the Baku Oil Industry and the Second Oil Boom (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20thcentury)" The book presents a historical analysis of the emergence and current state of the Azerbaijani oil industry.
The Azerbaijani government initiated a tender to divide Azerbaijan’s share in the contract, and Exxon got 5% of this. This company had preference because of its impressive financial and technological potential and because the US State Department asked the Azerbaijani government on behalf of this company. The agreement about giving a part of SOCAR’ s share was concluded in February 1995 at the negotiatons between Heydar Aliyev and the president of Exxon. The agreement was signed in Baku on April 19th 1995 by the president of Exxon T. Kuntz and the US Under Secretary for Energy W. White on the American side and prime-minister F. Guliyev and SOCAR president N. Aliyev on the Azerbaijani side.
This was the first agreement between Exxon and SOCAR, although they had participated together in some oil projects before. When signing the contract, US Under Secretary for Energy White stressed the historical meaning of the moment: “The world will soon celebrate the 50th anniversary of the victory over fascism. It was Baku and American companies who supplied the victorious army with oil. During the war, Exxon was the main American supplier of oil, and this tendency continues. Cooperation between US and Azerbaijani companies is restored and continues the tendency of the war years.” It was not that easy for Exxon to join the contract. As Kuntz recalled, the negotiations took place in a situation of “great international political tension” and became successful only thanks to the interference of the US authorities.
In October 1994 Azerbaijani prime minister Suret Guseinov, Deputy Minister of Interior and the head of the special police forces Rovshan Djavadov and his brother, a prosecutor in Baku, attempted a coup d’état. Heydar Aliyev addressed the father of the brothers and thus forced them to give up their plan. On the critical night, during a military revolt organized by the opposition, Aliyev took an unexpected step. He called people to come to Liberty Square in the center of Baku, where from a tribune, in front of a hundred-thousand-strong audience, he told them that Guseinov, who was standing next to him, had organized a coup d’état. The prime minister did not expect this. Guseinov, a former hero of the Karabakh war, was soon arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. He soon managed to escape to Russia. At the request of the Azerbaijani government he was arrested, returned to Azerbaijan, and put in prison.
The triumvirate that existed in Baku came to an end in October 1994. But Aliyev did not have a monopoly on power until March 1995. This was a time of dual power. The Djavadov brothers did not give up their intentions, they decided to stay in high-level politics and replace Aliyev. Rovshan Djavadov, who had military experience in the Karabakh war, enjoyed the enormous popularity and respect of the population. However, the involvement of the special police forces under his control in racketeering and the activity of his brother Makhir Djavadov negatively affected the image of the Azerbaijani authorities. On March 13th 1995, special police forces (OPON) led by Rovshan Djavadov started a revolt against Heydar Aliyev.
Rovshan and Makhir Djavadov put forward political demands. Heydar Aliyev, who had forgiven them at one point, now acted more decisively. Events developed in tragic directions. Forces that had earlier fought together against the common external enemy now started to fight against each other. The attempted coup d’état was unsuccessful. The time of so-called “dual power” came to an end. Aliyev managed to remove the Djavadov brothers from the political stage and strengthen his power together with Rasul Guliyev, the head of the parliament. Guliyev was not a rival of Aliyev, who then got all the power. There was evidence that the revolt of the Djavadov brothers was supported from Turkey. To remove Azeri-Turkish contradictions, Aliyev started active cooperation with Turkish government and elite. This could also contribute to the stability of his power in Azerbaijan.
