The 2011 Azerbaijani protests were a series of demonstrations held to protest the government of President Ilham Aliyev. Common themes espoused by demonstrators, many of whom were affiliated with Müsavat and the Popular Front Party, the main opposition parties in Azerbaijan, included doubts as to the legitimacy of the 2008 presidential election, calls for the release of political prisoners, for democratic reforms, and that Aliyev and his government resign from power. Azerbaijani authorities responded with a security crackdown, dispersing protests and curtailing attempts to gather with force and numerous arrests.

The European Union, the United States Department of State, Amnesty International, and other organizations called on the government to release political prisoners and allow freedom of assembly. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Zakir Qaralov vowed to "suppress" protests, comparing them to incidents in "other countries" and saying that the government would not allow them to go forward.

On 29 January, more than 100 activists and politicians not affiliated with the Azerbaijani government gathered in Baku to urge President Ilham Aliyev to dismiss the government and call snap elections. Several critics compared Aliyev to Egypt's then-President Hosni Mubarak and warned that Azerbaijan could face popular protests as part of a regional wave of civil unrest, though leaders of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party and Müsavat stopped short of threatening to lead them personally.

Around the same time, 20-year-old web activist and APFP supporter Jabbar Savalan gained prominence for posting increasingly provocative invective against the government on Facebook and other social networking websites, eventually calling in early February for a "Day of Rage" modeled off the protests in Egypt, with major protests to be held in downtown Baku. Authorities reacted by arresting Savalanly in Sumqayit on 5 February and charging him with marijuana possession, a charge his supporters claimed was fabricated. Opposition groups called on authorities to release the young activist and compared his detention to the suppression of dissidents in Egypt and other countries, but police insisted the arrest was not political.

On 6 February, an unsanctioned protest was held at the Egypt–Azerbaijan Friendship Park outside Baku, in the suburb of Xırdalan. Several dozen rally-goers, mostly young men and women, waved signs and chanted slogans calling for Egyptian President Mubarak to step down, but also voiced dissent against several recently adopted Azerbaijani government policies, including price increases for services. Police dispersed the gathering within minutes, making no arrests.

Youth activists Elnur Majidli, Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, and others called on Facebook for mass protests on 11 March 2011 to mark the one-month anniversary of both Hosni Mubarak's resignation and the detention of Savalanly on what they called are trumped-up charges. In response, the government reportedly dispatched military forces to Baku to bolster security in the former Soviet republic's capital.

Members of the opposition in the National Assembly indicated support for the demonstrators, demanded the release of political prisoners, and called on the cabinet, led by former Communist Party member Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, to resign over its failure to institute reforms. The government claimed the demonstrations were organized by the parliamentary opposition under the guise of grassroots activism, but activists denied this, citing criticism from politically like-minded allies in the National Assembly over the date of the planned protests as an example of where they differ from the opposition parties.

On 11 March, police foiled several attempted protests, arresting at least 43. The New York Times reported that about 60 people gathered in Baku, the capital city, in response to the scheduled event on Facebook, but security forces quickly clamped down, preventing the demonstration from gaining much steam.