Resignation Deepens Azerbaijan Crisis

The chairman of Parliament resigned Sunday, deepening Azerbaijan’s political crisis and clearing the way for former Communist leader Geidar Aliyev to return to power.

Isa Gambarov stepped aside under pressure from a rebel commander, Surat Huseynov, who has seized several towns in eastern Azerbaijan in the last week.

Huseynov opposes the government’s role in the war over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been fighting for independence with help from Armenia.