ABSTRACT
The Ana Vatan (Motherland) Party held its first constituent congress in November 1990 and was registered in August 1992. Since that time, Ana Vatan has repeatedly wavered in its political allegiances. Initially, the party was a supporter of the PFA and joined the Democratic Bloc of Parties which was formed during the 1991 elections and which constituted the first opposition faction in the Azerbaijan parliament. After Heydar Aliyev’s return to power in the summer of 1993, it transferred its support to the new government. It joined the Emergency Consultative Council of Parties created by President Aliyev to support his regime, rejecting participation in the National Salvation Movement1-a bloc created in May 1994 as a reaction of opposition forces to the Bishkek Protocol,2 which served as the basis of the cease-fire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In the spring of 1994, Ana Vatan united with the Social Democrats and the Party of Independent Azerbaijan to form a bloc of centrist parties.
