Abulfaz Elchibey

Born Abulfaz Aliyev, Elchibey was an orientalist scholar and Soviet-era dissident who led the Azerbaijani Popular Front and became a leading figure of the independence movement; he was elected president on 7 June 1992.

A champion of Turkic unity, under him the state language was officially renamed "Turkic". During the rebellion that began in Ganja in June 1993 he left Baku for the village of Kalaki in Nakhchivan. He died in Ankara in 2000.