Azerbaijan: It had been touted as the beginning of Azerbaijan's version of the revolution that swept former Soviet apparatchiks from power in Ukraine and neighbouring Georgia.
All of the elements were there yesterday afternoon in Baku, as an estimated 15,000 people gathered to voice their anger at parliamentary elections last Sunday which swept the governing party to power amid widespread accusations of fraud. Protesters waved the orange flag of Azerbaijan's main opposition coalition, Azadliq, and shouted for an end to repression.
"I'm here because Azeris deserve democracy, and we have none," said Rasul Seyyidov, an opposition supporter who had travelled three hours from the western town of Quba.
Behind him, about 1,000 policemen looked on from behind metal riot shields.
Despite the energetic chanting and the impassioned oratory of the politicians on their rostrum, this was a protest going nowhere.
Although the crowd appeared mostly to be made up of party faithful, large numbers were adamant they were not here out of any love for Azadliq.
"If these people get to power, they'll steal the oil money just like the present government is doing," said university student Kamil Heydarov.
Other protesters were conspicuously silent when the chant went up for Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's president, to resign.
"There's nothing wrong with him," said shopkeeper Samir Aliyev. "It's the customs minister who should be sacked."
He was referring to the country's richest and, for many, most corrupt man. Opposition party leaders, meanwhile, expressed disappointment at the low turn-out, which they blamed mostly on state obstruction.There was some truth to their claims.
In the northern town of Khachmaz, an opposition politician and 30 supporters were arrested on Tuesday evening as they prepared to take a bus to Baku. But there was no evidence yesterday morning of the police roadblocks opposition members alleged had been set up on the main roads leading into the capital.
If anything, the root of the opposition's lack of bite lies in its own lack of organisation.
It was only late on Tuesday afternoon that Azadliq headquarters got around to printing 10,000 flyers for yesterday's protest meeting.