The state funeral in Baku was organized on 23 August by Azerbaijani government led by Speaker of Parliament, Murtuz Alasgarov. An official mourning was not declared, but people displayed Elchibey's portraits and Azerbaijani flags with mourning ribbons.[5] From early morning, thousands of people began to gather at Elchibey's house and at the headquarters of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, which had been chaired by Elchibey until his death.[6] At noon, a farewell ceremony began at the headquarters and was attended by Elchibey's political associates. Then the coffin with Elchibey's body was moved to the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan where in the 1970s and 1980s Elchibey had worked as a researcher. Elchibey's supporters refused the government's offer to move to the Academy of Sciences by buses, opting instead to carry the coffin with their arms.[6] Several thousands people chanted "Elchibey! Elchibey!" and sung the Azerbaijani anthem.[6]
Eulogies were delivered by Murtuz Alasgarov and Azerbaijani opposition leaders. The chairman of the Musavat party, Isa Gambar, compared Elchibey to George Washington and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, saying that "only in the future will we understand who we lost".[6]
During the funeral ceremony more than 10,000 people started chanting against Heydar Aliyev when he entered the building to attend the ceremony. He quickly left the building and faced further taunts from more than 50,000 people outside.[7] Aliyev's security guards reportedly had to hold back the crowd to enable Aliyev to leave.[7] In the past, Elchibey had described Aliyev as "an autocrat playing at democracy" while Aliyev claimed that Elchibey was "unequal to the demands of building a fledgling state".[8] Elchibey also denounced the 1993 Azerbaijani presidential election, where Aliyev cemented his power, as fraudulent.[4] Nonetheless, Aliyev admitted that Elchibey "was a decent man".[5]
