Did you know that Azerbaijan was the first Democratic Republic in East (western Asia)?

Question

Azerbaijan is the door of East (they say so). And in 1918 May 28 it became the first democratic Republic in the western Asia.

Answer 1

Well, yes - for a very short period of time, anyway.

"After the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, Azerbaijan together with Armenia and Georgia became part of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When the republic dissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). The ADR was the first democratic parliamentary republic in the Muslim world, but lasted only 23 months until the Bolshevik XIth Red Army invaded in April 1920. Overthrowing the ADR government, Bolsheviks established Azerbaijan SSR in Baku on April 28, 1920.
In 1922, Azerbaijan, along with Armenia and Georgia, became part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic {TSFSR), which itself became a constituent member of the newly-established Soviet Union. In 1936, TSFSR was dissolved and Azerbaijan SSR became one of the 12 (by 1940 - 15) constituent member states of the Soviet Union.
During the 1940s, the Azerbaijan SSR supplied much of the Soviet Union's oil on the Eastern Front of World War II. Close to 600,000 Azerbaijanis fought on this front against Nazi Germany. Operation Edelweiss was launched by Adolf Hitler to occupy the Caucasian oilfields and capture Baku, but all the offensives were pushed back. The Germans made largely fruitless efforts to enlist the cooperation of emigre political figures, such as Mammed Amin Rasulzade, who came to Berlin and found opportunities to meet captured Soviet Azerbaijani POWs.[14]


A painting by Enver Aliyev depicting Azerbaijani citizens digging entrenchments and antitank obstacles near Baku to prevent a possible Nazi invasion.
[edit]Newly Independent Azerbaijan
Following the politics of glasnost, initiated by the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, civil unrest and ethnic strife grew in various regions of the Soviet Union, including Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of the Azerbaijan SSR. The disturbances in Azerbaijan, in response to Moscow's indifference to already heated conflict, resulted in calls for independence and secession from the USSR, which subsequently culminated in the events of Black January in Baku. At this time, Ayaz Mutallibov was appointed as the First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party.
Later in 1990, the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR dropped the words "Soviet Socialist" from the title; adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan Republic, a constituent member of Soviet Union; and restored the modified flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as a state flag. In early 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan established the institute of presidency, and Ayaz Mutallibov was elected as the first president by the Council. On September 8, 1991, Ayaz Mutallibov was elected as president in nationwide elections, in which he was the only running candidate.
On October 18, 1991, Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence, which was affirmed by a nationwide referendum in December, 1991, when the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. The early years of independence were overshadowed by the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Armenia. By the end of hostilities in 1994, Azerbaijan lost control of up to 16% of its internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh itself.[15][16] In 1993, democratically elected president Abulfaz Elchibey was overthrown by a military insurrection led by Colonel Suret Huseynov, which resulted in the rise to power of the former leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. In 1994, Suret Huseynov, by that time a prime minister, attempted another military coup against Heydar Aliyev, but failed, was arrested and was charged with treason. In 1995, another coup attempt against Aliyev, by the commander of the military police, Rovshan Javadov, was averted resulting in the killing of the latter and disbanding of Azerbaijan's military police.
Although during his presidency, Aliyev managed to reduce the country's unemployment, reined in criminal groups, established the fundamental institutions of independent statehood, and brought stability, peace and major foreign investment, the country was tainted by rampant corruption in the governing bureaucracy. In October 1998, Aliyev was reelected for a second term. Despite the much improved economy, particularly with the exploitations of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and Shah Deniz gas field, Aliyev's presidency became unpopular due to vote fraud, wide-spread corruption and objection to his autocratic regime. The same harsh criticism followed the elections of former Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev, the second leader of New Azerbaijan Party after the death of his father Heydar.'

And it's present-day human rights record isn't so great:

"Despite being a member of such bodies as the Human Rights Council, several independent bodies, such as the Human Rights Watch, have deemed human rights in Azerbaijan to be subpar at best. Democratic and personal freedoms have been diminished by the government, wary of revolutions in Central Asia spreading to home turf.
lthough Azerbaijan is nominally a representative democracy, recent elections there have widely been contested as fraudulent and 'seriously flawed.' Azerbaijani media coverage of the election is considered to be overwhelmingly biased in favor of the administration. Also, former President, Heidar Aliyev, is known to have filled the Central and Local electoral commissions with government supporters prior to various key elections since 2003 [1]. Azerbaijani non-governmental bodies were also banned from monitoring the vote. Irregular incidents such as voting chiefs running off with the ballots, ballot-stuffing, multiple voting, and vote-tampering were recorded by international monitors.
[edit]Freedom of assembly and expression of political beliefs

Up until June 2005, the Azerbaijani people did not enjoy freedom of assembly. The blanket ban on opposition gatherings was lifted after national pressure, but events leading up to parliamentary elections later that year proved this to be merely a nominal change for a very short time. The authorities denied opposition supporters the right to demonstrate or hold rallies in or near any city centres. Those attending opposition rallies that had not been sanctioned by the government were beaten and arrested in mass. Police were known to detain opposition activists, in an attempt to 'convince' them into giving up their political work. Youth movement members and opposition members were detained for conspiring to overthrow the government, a charge that has not been substantiated. After the elections not a single opposition rally was allowed.
[edit]State-authorized violence

In Azerbaijan, torture, police abuse, and excessive use of force are rife. Defendants are often subjected to severe beating to try to coerce a confession, although electric shock, threats of rape, and threats against members of the defendant's family are also used as torture. Torture is less prevalent in post-detention prison facilities, although former inmates have alleged that security forces beat hundreds of prisoners by forcing them to run through a gauntlet, whereby they were beaten with batons. The government have taken no action against torture, or against officials who partake in torture; indeed, Vilyat Eviazov, the head of the Organized Crime Unit, was named Deputy Interior Minister in 2005.
[edit]Political Prisoners

International pressure has been exerted on Azerbaijan to release its number of political prisoners. Since joining the Council of Europe, the Azerbaijani government have released one hundred political prisoners, but many remain in custody, and opposition supporters continue to be detained without proof of wrongdoing.
[edit]Freedom of the Media

The authorities use a range of measures to restrict freedom of the media within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines. Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government. During the last few years, two journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations.
Reporters Without Borders has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to firmly condemn Azerbaijan for tolerating escalating press freedom violations.[1] Nearly 100 journalists were victims of physical assault in 2003. More than 50 were attacked covering violent clashes between the security forces and demonstrators after the 2003 presidential elections. Two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Aydin Gouliev, editor of the opposition daily Baki Khaber, was abducted and beaten by men that accused him of "not serving his country and Islam" and warned him to stop all journalistic work on July 17, 2004.[2] Eynulla Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan newspapers, was beaten about the head in a Baku street on July 26, 2004. He has written many articles highly critical of the government and has also been suppressed by the Azeri government for accusing the Azerbaijanis of committing the Khojaly massacre themselves instead of the Armenians, as it is widely believed in the Azerbaijani government.[3]

Answer 2

...and the Question is?