the Russian leadership, once declaring that among the Russian men who did the greatest services to democracy Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev, saying in a congratulatory telegram sent in connection with the adoption of a new Tatar constitution that "the heroic Tatar people" have contributed to the "awakening and revival of the Turkic world". On 12 September 1992, he paid a visit to Moscow, during which he signed along with Boris Yeltsin, the "Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation". Iran He was described as being "vehemently anti-Iranian" in his policies, this being due in part to their perception of an Iranian-Armenian alliance. Elchibey endorsed the unification of Azerbaijan with the region that is known as Iranian Azerbaijan, a stance which alienated the Iranian government in Tehran. During a visit to Turkey, he called for the downfall of the Iranian Islamic Republic, which prompted a member of the Iranian parliament to threaten retaliation against the Azeris. Other states Elchibey paid a visit to Ukraine on 12 November 1992, during which he said that relations with Ukraine will be prioritized by Azerbaijan from the former republics of the former Soviet Union. Downfall As rebellious troops were advancing onto Baku, President Elchibey invited Heydar Aliyev, former Soviet Politburo member and then head of Nakhchivan (and no relation to Elchibey, whose real surname was Aliyev), to Baku on 9 June 1993 for negotiations with Surat Huseynov. Aliyev quickly took control of the power, becoming the Chairman of the Azerbaijani parliament on 15 June 1993 and giving a chair of the Prime-Minister of the country to Huseynov. Nine days later, in the vacuum of power left by Elchibey's departure to Nakhchivan, Aliyev, as a speaker of the parliament, constitutionally assumed presidential powers. He signed the Bishkek Protocol to cease hostilities on the frontline, and further solidified his power by organizing impeachment hearings and holding a national referendum on 29 August 1993, which formally stripped Elchibey of the presidency. In another national election, on 3 October 1993, Heydar Aliyev, was elected as president of Azerbaijan with 99% of the votes. Opposition and death During Aliyev's presidency, Elchibey returned to Baku in 1997 and joined the opposition as the leader of Azerbaijani Popular Front Party. In 2000, Elchibey was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in August of the same year in a military hospital in Ankara, Turkey.