Isa Gambar

• 1974 Finished Baku High School No. 62
• 1979 - Graduated from the Faculty of History, Baku State University (BSU)
• 1979-1982 - Worked at the Nakhichivan Autonomous Republic Research Center
• 1982-1990 - Azerbaijan's Academy of Sciences Researched at the Institute of Oriental Studies
• 1989-1991 - Academy of Sciences and one of the founders and leaders of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA)
• 1990-1991 - Deputy chairman of PFA
• 1990 - Member of Parliament (MP)
• 1991-1992 - Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations.
• 1992 - Elected baskan (chairman) by the Congress of Restoration Committee of Equality Party (Azerbaijan).
• May 1992 - Elected parliamentary speaker
• June 17, 1992 - Acting president (government title) of the Azerbaijan Republic. Prepared the country for a democratic election
• June 15, 1993 - Resigned after overthrow of the democratically elected president of Azerbaijan
• July 16, 1993 - Arrested by the rebel forces that seized power led by Heydar Aliyev
• 1999, 2001-2003 - Co-founder and chairman of the Democratic Congress that included Azerbaijan's leading political parties
• 2000 - Awarded the prize "A Friend of Journalists"
• 2003 - Single presidential candidate for the opposition electoral bloc “Bizim Azərbaycan” (“Our Azerbaijan”) that associated more than 30 parties.

Gambar is married and has two sons. His wife, Aida Bağırova, is a doctor of history, and a professor at Baku State University.

Human Rights Watch commented on the 2003 elections:

Human Rights Watch research found that the government had heavily intervened in the elections campaign in favour of Prime Minister İlham Aliyev, son of the current President Heydar Aliyev. The government had stacked the Central Election Commission and local election commission with its supporters, and banned local non-governmental organizations from monitoring the vote. As the elections drew nearer, government officials have openly sided with the campaign of İlham Aliyev, constantly obstructing opposition rallies and attempting to limit public participation in opposition events. In some cases, local officials have closed all the roads into town during opposition rallies, or have extended working and school hours, in one case, even declaring a Sunday work day, to prevent participation in opposition rallies.[1]

In his role as leader of Müsavat, Gambar has played a major part in spring 2011 demonstrations inspired by other protests throughout the Middle East. He and his party have organized protests, occasionally joining with fellow opposition groups like the Popular Front Party to rally in Baku despite a government ban and the steadfast efforts of security forces to disperse gatherings and arrest activists. "There is a criminal, authoritarian and corrupt regime in Azerbaijan, and the people of Azerbaijan no longer want to live under these conditions," Gambar told The New York Times.[2] In early April, Ilkin Gambar, the opposition leader's son currently serving in the Azerbaijani Army, claimed on his Facebook page that he was being sent to the front lines in Azerbaijan's standoff with Armenia and that his father had been "warned" that this could be a result of his continuing involvement in protests. For his part, Isa Gambar said, "The Ministry of Defence has a right to place soldiers in any location at its disposal. So I don't want to politicize this issue."[3]

• Politics of Azerbaijan
• Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan
• Foreign relations of Azerbaijan
• List of political parties in Azerbaijan

• Forrest, Brett (Nov. 28, 2005). "Over A Barrel in Baku". Fortune, pp. 54–60.

• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's final report (source: HTML format or PDF format Archived 2009-04-01 at the Wayback Machine))
• İsa Qəmbər personal web-site with additional information about recent events
• Opposition Leader in the Interview to AIA: "Iran tries to influence the situation in Azerbaijan"
• The Azerbaijani Elections: İsa Qəmbər — Leader of the Largest Opposition Bloc