G. SALAEV
At the end of August 2017, the population of Azerbaijan is 10,048,090 people, of which 4,974,348 are male (49.5%) and 5,073,742 (50.5%) are female. The population of Azerbaijan has grown 4 times over the century. In total, according to experts, about 51 million Azerbaijanis live in all countries of the world, including Azerbaijan.
In 1897, the population of Azerbaijan was 1806.7 thousand people, of which 16.89% of the total lived in cities, and by the beginning of the 1941 war - 3331.8 thousand and 37.21% in cities. During the oil boom of the 19th century, the demographics of the country's population changed dramatically. If in 1859 12,191 people lived in Baku, mostly Azerbaijanis, then in 1897 the city’s population already reached 111,904 people, and of them 71,591 were immigrants.
The entire population of Azerbaijan today is: Azerbaijanis, Lezgins, Armenians, Russians. Other nationalities living in Azerbaijan are: Talysh - 3%, Avars - 0.6%, Turks - 0.4%, Tatars - 0.3%, Ukrainians - 0.2%, Tsakhurs - 0.1%, Georgians (Ingiloys) - 0.1%, Kurds - 0.1%, Tats - 0.3%, Jews - 0.1%, Udins - 0.1%, other nationalities - 0.1%.
Below is a brief overview of the nationalities living on the territory of today's Azerbaijan.
Russians
The first Russian settlements on the territory of Azerbaijan appeared in the 1830s - 50s. These were exiled here under Emperor Nicholas I and voluntary migrants - Molokans from the Orenburg province in the Shemakha and Lankaran districts, and subsequently to Baku. The next wave of migration of the Russian population occurs at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries and is associated with the development of the oil industry of Azerbaijan.
In the 1920s, Russians, along with Armenians and Jews, completely dominated the governance of Azerbaijan. Thus, in the summer of 1923, the Central Committee of the AzKP consisted of 13 Russians, slightly inferior to the Azerbaijanis, of whom there were 16 people. In 1925, Russians made up 38% of the Azerbaijani party apparatus (for comparison: in Georgia during this period 73% of the party apparatus were Georgians, in Armenia 93% were Armenians). The outflow of Russians from Azerbaijan began in the 1960s, which intensified in the 1980s, mainly from rural areas of the country.
The collapse of the USSR and the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh led to another massive ethnic migration process among the population of Azerbaijan. According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, by the beginning of February 1990, the number of Russian refugees reached 70-80 thousand people.
At the moment, Russians continue to play a significant role in the life of Azerbaijan. Since May 1993, an officially registered Russian community of Azerbaijan has been operating in the country, and the Russian Information and Cultural Center (RICC) has been successfully operating. It hosts methodological seminars for Russian language teachers, conferences, round tables, Russian language Olympiads, art exhibitions, meetings with the intelligentsia of Russia and other countries, etc.
Armenians
According to the “Caucasian Calendar”, in 1891, 24,490 Armenians lived in Baku, with a total population of 86,611 people (28.3%). The Armenian population in the Baku province “was 119,526 people, of which 42,921 people were in the districts (mainly Goychay and Shemakha), and 76,605 Armenians were on the territory of the Baku city government” (Caucasian calendar, Tiflis, 1917, p. 182). By 1917, the total number of Armenians on the territory of modern Azerbaijan was about 450 thousand people.
After the 1917 revolution in Russia, Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes led to the flight of Armenians from Azerbaijan. According to the All-Union Census of 1979, 6,026,515 people lived in the Azerbaijan SSR, of which 475,486 were Armenians (8%). Ten years later, in 1989, their number decreased by 85,000 people. Armenians made up the main population of the NKAO, and the areas immediately adjacent to the NKAO and in Baku.
According to some experts, based on the results of the 1989 population census, the number of Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan was 120,086 people, and according to the results of the 2009 population census in Azerbaijan, excluding Nagorno-Karabakh, their number was 220 people. Most of them (140) people live in Baku. According to other sources, there are up to 30 thousand Armenians in Baku.
Georgians (Ingiloys) are one of the oldest ethnic groups of Azerbaijan, currently living in the Gakh, Zagatala and Balakan regions. The modern Ingiloi language is an eastern dialect of the Georgian language. Approximately three quarters of Ingiloys are Muslims (Sunnis), the rest are Orthodox Christians. The Ingiloys appeared in Azerbaijan in the second half of the 19th century as a result of the assimilation policy of Christianization and Georgianization of the population of the region.
Germans
The resettlement of Germans, mainly from Swabia, to Azerbaijan took place in 1819. They founded two colonies: Helenendorf and Annenfeld (now the cities of Goygol and Shamkir). Most Germans were peasants. In 1886, 1,717 Germans lived in Baku, contributing to the socio-economic structure of the city of that period. On the eve of the First World War, the number of Germans in Baku was 5,452 people. After the start of the war, the first wave of German emigration from Azerbaijan occurred, and in the first years of Soviet power - the second, almost 50%. But later their number increased again and reached 7,275 people in Baku by 1931. The wave of deportation reached the Germans of our country in the fall of 1941.
Ukrainians
The beginning of the appearance of Ukrainians on the territory of modern Azerbaijan dates back to the Persian campaign of Peter I (1722-1723). Most of the Cossacks appeared in this region after the liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich by Catherine II. Development oil fields at the end of the 19th century, it caused migration of the population, including Ukrainian, to the territory of the oil-bearing Absheron Peninsula and to the rural areas of Azerbaijan. At the end of the 19th century, the Ukrainian diaspora in Azerbaijan numbered about 30 thousand people.
The reason for the large influx of Ukrainians into the territory of Azerbaijan is the First World War, events of 1917, Civil War, famine in Ukraine (1932-1933), World War II. Ukrainian specialists took part in the construction of the Sumgayit pipe-rolling plant, the Ganja aluminum plant, the Mingachevir reservoir and hydroelectric power station, in the laying of the Samur-Devechi canal, and in the development of the oil fields of the Caspian Sea. According to the 1989 census, Ukrainians were the fourth largest ethnic group in Azerbaijan, numbering 32.5 thousand people. Currently, there are two Ukrainian organizations: “Ukrainian Community in Azerbaijan named after T.G. Shevchenko” and “Ukrainian Congress of Azerbaijan”.
Poles
Poles appeared in Azerbaijan after the partition of Poland (1772). At this time, Russia was waging war in the Caucasus, and young men from all occupied territories, including Poland, were brought here as forced recruits. In 1813, a batch of captured Poles from Napoleon’s defeated army in the amount of 10-12 thousand people was brought to Azerbaijan. By the beginning of the 20th century, 17,264 people were resettled in Transcaucasia. Some exiled Poles were completely deprived of their freedom and were kept under arrest in the Zagatala fortress and on the island of Nargin. Many Poles arrived in Azerbaijan on duty, among them were travelers - naturalists who studied the flora and fauna of the Caucasus, and geologists. They took an active part in the life of rapidly developing Baku. In this regard, the following facts are interesting. In 1889, 10 Poles worked in the office of the Baku governor alone.
In 1879 - 1894, the duties of the city mayor were performed by the Pole S.I. Despot-Zenovich. Architects, scientists, and engineers worked fruitfully. At the end of the 19th century, the Poles occupied the second largest place after the Russians. They were the most educated nation. In 1913, 52.2% of all Poles living in Baku were city employees. With the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan, many Poles left the country. Only after the collapse of the USSR did the Poles in Baku have the opportunity to unite. In 2002, the Polish community “Polonia – Azerbaijan” was formed.
Tatars
According to the latest census data, about 30 thousand Tatars live in Azerbaijan, the bulk of whom are concentrated in Baku. Even before the revolution, a large layer of Tatar intelligentsia had formed in Baku. During the years of Soviet power, the Tatar population was replenished by those who fled from famine in the Volga region in the 20s. In 1989, the Tatar Culture Society “Tugan Tel” was created.
Jews
Throughout history, Jews belonging to different ethnolinguistic groups lived on the territory of Azerbaijan: Mountain Jews, Ashkenazi Jews and Georgian Jews. Since 1810, Ashkenazis began to settle in Baku. In 1835, according to official data, 2,774 Jews lived in Guba district. According to the 1897 census, there were 2,341 Jews in Baku. During the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918-1920, the government included the Jew Yevsey Gindes, who served as Minister of Health of the ADR. The Jews of Azerbaijan have almost never encountered any manifestations of anti-Semitism in the country.
Many representatives of the Jewish community of Azerbaijan have taken and are taking an active part in the political, cultural, social and economic life of the country. Currently, there are several synagogues in Azerbaijan, a branch of the international Jewish organization “Sokhnut”, and the “Azerbaijan-Israel” society. They, with the assistance of Jewish communities and the Israeli Embassy in Baku, hold many cultural events, publish Jewish literature, and organize various creative groups. The educational center with 450 student places teaches the basics of Jewish culture.
Mountain Jews from Guba
Mountain Jews occupy a prominent place in the ethnic mosaic of Azerbaijan, but since they speak the Tat language, they are sometimes called Tatami Jews, who have lived in the country since time immemorial. As in the entire post-Soviet space, in Azerbaijan over the past few decades there has been a tendency towards a reduction in the number of Jews due to their large migration outflow to Israel and Western countries. The number of Jews in Azerbaijan decreased from a maximum of 41.2 thousand in 1939 to 30.8 thousand in 1989. The total number of Mountain Jews in the world is estimated at 250,000 people.
Greeks
The first Greek settlements in Azerbaijan appeared in Karabakh in the village of Mehmana, after the Russian-Turkish wars. In 1897, 278 Greeks lived in the Baku province, and 658 Greeks lived in the Elizavetpol province. In 1923, 1,168 Greeks lived among the urban population in Azerbaijan. Currently, the Cultural Center of the Greeks of Azerbaijan operates in Baku. The number of Greeks is 535 people (176 families), mostly living in Baku, there are also families in Sumgayit, Khachmaz, Guba, Gakh, Ganja.
Dagestan-speaking (Shahdag) peoples
The most colorful is National composition the northern part of the country, where peoples of the Nakh-Dagestan family live along with the Azerbaijanis. The most numerous of them are Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs.
Lezgins
According to the 1989 census, 171.4 thousand Lezgins lived in Azerbaijan. They live compactly in the northeastern regions of Azerbaijan, in the Samur River basin and on the eastern spurs of the Greater Caucasus. Their number is greatest in the Gusar district, where Lezgins make up 90.7% of the total population - 73.3 thousand people. 26 thousand Lezgins live in the neighboring Khachmaz region, and almost the same number live in the Gabala region. A significant percentage of the Lezgin population is also in the Guba, Ismayilli and Goychay regions. In 2009, the number of Lezgins in Azerbaijan amounted to 180.3 thousand people.
Avars live in the Balakan and Zagatala regions. According to 1999 data, their number was 50.9 thousand people.
Tsakhur- a people closely related to the Lezgins - live in the Zagatala and Gakh regions. According to the 1989 census, there were 13.3 thousand of them in Azerbaijan. Ten years later, their number reached 15.9 thousand people.
There are, however, peoples who are practically not represented in Dagestan itself. These are small ethnic groups, closely related to the Lezgins - Kryzy, Khinaligs, Budukhs, Udins. The first three peoples live in the Guba region (the so-called Shahdag area). Their homeland is the highlands, but a significant part of them moved to the plains. These are people from the mountain villages of Khinalig, Buduh and Kryz, which are among the most mountainous and inaccessible villages of the Caucasus.
Udini live in the village of Nij, Gabala region. According to the 2009 census, there were 3,800 Udis in Azerbaijan, and there were about 10 thousand people in total (in Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan). The origin of the Udins goes back to the ancient Albanian tribe of Uti. They profess Orthodox and Gregorian Christianity.
Another Dagestan people - Laks– in Azerbaijan they live mainly in major cities– Baku and Sumgayit, the places of compact settlement of this people are located exclusively in Dagestan.
The issue of population in Azerbaijan requires separate study Rutulians- Dagestan people, related to the Lezgins. According to the latest Soviet census, there were 850 Rutulians in Azerbaijan. In addition to the above-mentioned Dagestan peoples, a small group of Tabasarans also lives in Azerbaijan.
Iranian-speaking peoples are Talysh, Tats and Kurds. They have inhabited the territory they occupy since time immemorial.
Talysh
The Talysh are a people who are descendants of the ancient indigenous population of the Caucasus, having Iranian origin. They live in Lankaran, Astara, Lerik and Masalli regions, as well as in Baku and Sumgayit. According to the 1999 census, the Talysh population was 80 thousand people.
Kurds
Kurds live in the Lachin and Kalbajar regions, as well as in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In 2009, the Kurdish population was just over 6,100.
Tats
On the territory of the Absheron, Khizy, Devechi, Guba districts live groups of a small people - the Tats. According to the 1989 census, there were just over 10 thousand Tats.
Gypsies (Karachi)
Before the revolution of 1917, they lived in Nakhchivan, in Goychay and Guba districts (2,399 people). Before the Karabakh War, Roma communities existed in Shusha and Jabrail. In the Khachmaz region of Azerbaijan, the village of Karachi has been preserved.
Ethnic composition of Azerbaijan (according to the 1999 census)
Yunusov A.
(published on the website of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences at: http://www.iea.ras.ru/topic/census/mon/yunus_mon2001.htm)
The last census conducted in the USSR in 1989 then recorded representatives of 112 nationalities and small ethnic groups in Azerbaijan, a total of 7,021 thousand people. At the same time, the main part population of the republic- 5805 thousand people or 83% of the population were Azerbaijanis. Next in number in the country were Russians, Armenians and Lezgins. In religious terms, more than 87% of the population at that time were Muslims (Shiites and Sunnis), 12% were Christians (Orthodox and Gregorian) and 0.5% were Jews.
However, since that time, serious military-political and socio-economic events have occurred in Azerbaijan, which have caused massive displacement of the population within the country and beyond its borders. It was clear that the demographic situation in Azerbaijan had changed dramatically in recent years since the 1989 census. But to what extent and how was not clear. Although on February 22, 1996, President Heydar Aliyev signed decree No. 442 on the preparation and conduct of the census, it was constantly postponed indefinitely. There were serious concerns that the census would provide us with real data in the context of the ongoing conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh and the enormous labor migration of the population in search of livelihoods.
And, nevertheless, with the financial support of the UN, from January 27 to February 3, 1999, the authorities of the republic carried out this population census, the results of which are just becoming public.
On the other hand, formally, Azerbaijanis have good prospects: the average age of the nation is 27 years, and there are not very many elderly and disabled Azerbaijanis over 60 years old (8.5%). However, a careful study of census data reveals that this ratio is based only on the predominance of the female population. And not all is well here.
Thus, the number of divorces has sharply increased: if in 1989, 11.3 thousand divorces were recorded among Azerbaijanis, then ten years later there were 64.7 thousand, i.e. The number of divorces among Azerbaijanis during this period increased almost 6 times! At the same time, the number of people living alone has increased sharply, especially among women aged 20-39.
If we consider that the vast majority of divorces are also noted among people aged 20-39 years, then there is a serious crisis in family and marital relations. What is the situation among other peoples of Azerbaijan? Let's start with the Russians, who in 1989 were second in number after the Azerbaijanis. In Azerbaijan, Russians have traditionally been divided into three groups of unequal numbers. The first consisted of schismatics (Molokans, Subbotniks, Doukhobors, Baptists, etc.), who appeared in Azerbaijan after 1832 and settled in rural areas. in Baku in January 1990, internal political instability, the economic crisis, a sharp narrowing of the scope of use of the Russian language and the increasing psychological discomfort of this group of the country's population led to the fact that in the first years of Azerbaijan's independence, Russians were largely alienated from the political life of the country. As a result, the 1999 census showed that the number of Russians had decreased threefold over these ten years and now there were 141.7 thousand people left in Azerbaijan, accounting for only 1.8% of the republic’s population. True, Russians still play a significant role in the life of Azerbaijan today. However, there are also alarming factors: not counting the Armenians, who are discussed below, only in this category of the country’s population there is a very significant difference in the gender ratio - among Russians, the number of men is only 37%, while women are 63%. Moreover, the older generation mainly predominates and, as a result, the average age of the Russian population is 41 years, while the average age of other peoples ranges from 26-34 years. It is no coincidence that among Russians there are a lot of people over working age - 23.4%.
At the same time, the number of divorces over these 10 years has increased only 2.5 times, which does not indicate a serious family crisis among Russians in Azerbaijan, given similar indicators among Azerbaijanis and other peoples of the republic. Slightly more than 18% of Russians in Azerbaijan are single, but this high figure was mainly due to representatives of the older generation, while the percentage of single people aged 20-39 is insignificant (2.3%), especially among women. The vast majority of Russians (95.1%) today live in cities, mainly in Baku, where 84.3% of Russians live. At the same time, in terms of numbers, Russians confidently occupy second place after Azerbaijanis in Baku (accounting for 6.7% of the capital’s population), Ganja (0.9% of the city’s population) and Sumgait (1.7% of the city’s population). They are mainly qualified engineers and technical workers, employees, many are employed in government, scientific and educational institutions. This is largely due to the fact that Russians have one of the highest numbers of people (6.0%) with higher education in the country. Therefore, in the near future, the “Russian factor” will continue to play a significant role in the social life of Azerbaijan. Of the rural areas, most Russians live in Ismayilli (1.8% of the Russian population), Khachmaz (1.0%), as well as in the Gadabay, Jalilabad and Goranboy regions of Azerbaijan.
The percentage of another people of the Slavic group - Ukrainians - in Azerbaijan is not very significant. According to the 1999 census, 29 thousand Ukrainians live in Azerbaijan. Almost all of them live in Baku and only a small part in Sumgait and other cities and regions of the country. At the same time, the indicators of Ukrainians are not very different from those of Russians. It should be noted only the fact of strong Russification of Ukrainians: only 32.1% of Ukrainians noted Ukrainian as their native language, while 67.0% considered Russian as such.
Before the start of the Karabakh conflict, Armenians were the largest ethnic community in the country after Azerbaijanis and Russians.
Of particular interest to researchers are census data on the Caucasian group of ethnic groups in Azerbaijan. It includes Lezgins, Avars, Tsakhurs, Udins, Ingiloys, Kryzys, Budugs and Khinaligs, who have long lived in the republic. The Lezgins play the leading role in this group. They mainly live in the northeast of Azerbaijan, in the Samur River basin and on the eastern spurs of the Greater Caucasus Range. On the eve of the fall of the USSR, Lezgins were the fourth largest after Azerbaijanis, Russians and Armenians in Azerbaijan; in 1989, they numbered 171.4 thousand people or 2.4% of the population of the republic. These data were constantly disputed by the leaders of the Lezgin movements (Sadval in the Russian Federation and Samur in Azerbaijan), who cited figures of 600-800 thousand people. However, the 1999 census showed that the number and percentage of Lezgins remained essentially unchanged: 178 thousand Lezgins were recorded, or 2.2% of the country's population. It is unlikely, however, that this data really reflects the number of Lezgins. Our research, conducted in 1994-1998 in the north-eastern regions of the country, shows that in fact the number of Lezgins in Azerbaijan fluctuates between 250-260 thousand people. One way or another, but now, according to the 1999 census, the Lezgins have confidently become the second people of Azerbaijan after the Azerbaijanis. The bulk of Lezgins (41.2%) live in the Gusar district, where they constitute the absolute majority - 90.7% of the district's population. In addition, 14.7% of Lezgins now live in the capital, the same number in the Khachmaz region. Quite a lot of Lezgins also live in the Ismayilli, Guba, Gabala, and Goychay regions. In general, the majority of Lezgins (63.3%) are recorded in rural areas of the country. The census showed that the majority of Lezgins make up the working population aged 18-59 years (55.9% of Lezgins) and below the working age (33.2% of Lezgins), which indicates a good demographic outlook for this people. Average age
Lezgin - 29 years old.
In this Sheki-Zagatala zone live the Tsakhurs, who are close in language to the Lezgins. In 1989, 13.3 thousand people were recorded. Ten years later, their number reached 15.9 thousand people or 0.2% of the republic’s population. They mainly live in the Zagatala region (81%), as well as in the Gakh region (18%). Just like the Avars, the Tsakhurs are basically rural residents: only 17% live in the cities of Zagatala and Gakh, the remaining 83% live in villages.
Another ethnic community settled in the north-west of Azerbaijan are the Ingiloys. This is a very interesting people from a scientific point of view, the origin of which is still debated and much is not clear. It is believed that this is one of the ancient local peoples who, in the early Middle Ages, accepted the Orthodox branch (Georgian) of Christianity and eventually switched to the Georgian language.
To the east of the Sheki-Zakatala zone, in the north of Azerbaijan, there are the Gabala and Oguz regions of Azerbaijan, where the Udins live. By faith, they are adherents of the Gregorian branch of Christianity, and this circumstance left a serious imprint on their way of life and life, since the Armenians also belong to this branch of Christianity. That is why in everyday life the Udins were trilingual: they spoke Udi, Armenian and Azerbaijani. According to the 1989 census, 8 thousand Udis lived in the USSR, of which 6.1 thousand people lived in Azerbaijan, the majority (4.5 thousand people) in the village of Nij, Gabala region. After the start of the Karabakh conflict, some of the Udis also left the country and settled mainly in Russia. The 1999 census recorded 4.2 thousand Udins living mainly in the village of Nij, as well as 104 people in the Gakh region. The overwhelming majority are rural residents.
In the highlands, at the eastern foot of Mount Shahdag, in the Kuba region of Azerbaijan, lives a group of ethnic groups known as the “Shahdag”. These small peoples are the Khynalygs, Budugs and Kryzy - residents of the mountain villages of Budug, Kryz and Khinalig, from where they got their names. In addition, today some of the Budugs also live in two more villages of the region - Dali Gaya and Güney Budug, and the Kryzy live in the villages of Alik, Jack and Gaput Ergyudzh. All these villages are located in inaccessible high mountain areas, which affected their way of life and culture. In particular, in terms of language, the Budugs and Kryzys are very close to the Lezgins, but there are also differences. But the Khynalyg language occupies a special place, although it belongs to the Caucasian group of languages. They were also not noted in censuses, including the last one in 1999. But it is believed that there are about 10 thousand of them in total.
The Iranian group of peoples of Azerbaijan includes mainly Tats, Kurds and Talysh. In the northeast of Azerbaijan there is a settlement area of the Tats. Their language belongs to the Iranian group and is close to Farsi. The very name of the people is of Turkic origin: this is how the Turks in the Middle Ages called the settled, mostly urban, Iranian-speaking population in Azerbaijan. According to their faith, over the centuries they were divided into three groups: the majority converted to Islam and now Muslim Tats make up the bulk of the population of villages on the Absheron Peninsula around Baku (out of 40 villages on the peninsula - 33 are Tats), in the Ismailli district (villages of Lagij, Baskal, Zarnava ). Muslim Tats also live in Khyzy, Divichi, Guba and some other areas.
The second group of Tats consisted of those who converted to Judaism and who began to be called Mountain Jews in the republic. True, over the course of centuries there was such a strong process of mixing with Jews among them that today they identify themselves with Jews. As a result, the 1989 census recorded 30.8 thousand Jews in Azerbaijan, of which 5.5 thousand were Mountain Jews. They mainly lived in the Kuba region, as well as Gusar, Khachmaz and Oguz and Baku. True, this figure gave rise to strong doubts and it was believed that in fact, at that time, at least 60 thousand Jews, together with mountain people, lived in Azerbaijan in Azerbaijan. According to the Jewish Agency Sokhnut, during the period from 1989 to 1999, 31.3 thousand Jews left Azerbaijan, that is, more than lived 10 years ago. Accordingly, there should have been no more Jews left in Azerbaijan. However, the 1999 census recorded 8.9 thousand Jews. True, this time in the census the Jews were not subdivided and therefore it is difficult to say how many of them were mountaineers.
The third group of Tats were those who accepted the Gregorian branch of Christianity. They lived in the villages of Matrasa (Shamakhi district) and Kilvar (Khachmaz region), during the years of Soviet power they practically became Armenianized and after the start of the Karabakh conflict they left the country, leaving mainly for Armenia and Russia.
Kurds have traditionally lived in the very west of Azerbaijan.
The Talysh are settled in the southeast of Azerbaijan, mainly in the Lenkoran, Yardimli and Astara regions, as well as in the Masalli and Lerik regions. In Soviet times, they were not always included in the census. Thus, in 1926, 77.3 thousand (3.3% of the population of Azerbaijan) Talysh were recorded, in 1939 their number increased to 87.5 thousand people. However, 20 years later, in 1959, officially only 100 Talysh remained. In 1970 and 1979, they completely disappeared from the list of peoples of the USSR. They appeared again in the census in 1989, and now there were only 21.2 thousand people or 0.3% of the republic’s population. Over the past 10 years, there have been strong changes in the self-awareness of the Talysh, the socio-political situation in the republic has also changed, and as a result, the 1999 census recorded the residence of 76.8 thousand Talysh in the country, or 1% of the population of the republic.
True, it seems that the number of Talysh in Azerbaijan should actually be larger. According to our expert data, at least 200-250 thousand Talysh actually live in Azerbaijan. For the most part, these are residents of rural areas (97.4% of Talysh). Judging by the census, 48% of the Talysh live in the Masalli region and 33% in the Lankaran region. The rest are in Lerik, Astara and Yardimli regions. In addition to the indicated southern regions of Azerbaijan, the census showed the presence of some Talysh in the cities of Sumgait and Baku.
The Meskhetian Turks or Ahiska Turks, related in language and culture to the Azerbaijanis, were deported in 1944 by Stalin's decree from their historical homeland of Georgia to the Central Asian republics. After Stalin's death in 1956, a decree was issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Turks received the right to move to all republics of the USSR, except Georgia. It was then that they first appeared in Azerbaijan, but as Azerbaijanis. Later, in the 70s, they began to arrive as ethnic Turks. By 1989, the census recorded 17.7 thousand Turks in Azerbaijan, 96% of whom lived in rural areas.
What is the population of Azerbaijan? What nationalities live in this country, and how long ago have they settled there? You will find answers to these questions in this article.
Azerbaijan: population and its size by year
This small state is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, right on the border of Asia and Europe, Eastern and Western culture. How many people live in Azerbaijan at the moment? And what ethnic groups make up its structure?
The population of Azerbaijan, according to the most recent UN data, is 9.7 million people. According to this indicator, the country ranks first in the Transcaucasus region. Moreover, about 120-140 thousand of them live on the territory of an unrecognized state
The population of Azerbaijan reached its 9 millionth milestone in 2010. The birth of the country's nine millionth citizen was even recorded. This happened in the city of Nakhichevan on the morning of January 15 of the mentioned year.
According to statistics, the population of Azerbaijan has grown almost five times over the past hundred years. Over the 25 years of independence, the total population growth of this country was about 2.5 million people, which is very high rate for post-Soviet states. The dynamics of the population of Azerbaijan is presented more clearly in the following graph.
The birth rate in this country is three times higher than the death rate. This can explain the steady annual growth of its population. However, the average life expectancy in Azerbaijan is not that high (72 years). Although, again, for the countries of the post-Soviet space this is a pretty good indicator.
There are slightly more women in Azerbaijan than men (50.3%). The country's population density is 98 people per square kilometer of territory.
Population of Azerbaijan and its religious composition
According to the Constitution in Azerbaijan, it has no influence on education, culture or any other spheres of public life.
The religious composition of the country is represented by various movements and confessions, the dominant role among which is Islam. 99% of the entire population profess this religion. Moreover, approximately 85% of them are Shiite Muslims.
In addition, churches of other religions function freely in Azerbaijan: synagogues, Catholic cathedrals, Orthodox and Protestant churches. Even the Zoroastrian community is registered and active in the country.
Christianity is practically not widespread in Azerbaijan. Thus, there are currently only six Orthodox churches operating on the territory of the state (half of them are located in the capital). The Catholic Church in this country originated in the 14th century. The most significant event in the life of Azerbaijani Catholics was the visit of Pope John Paul III to Baku, which took place in the spring of 2002.
Ethnic diversity of the population of Azerbaijan
Representatives of many nationalities and ethnic groups live in Azerbaijan. Their top ten in number is as follows:
- Azerbaijanis (91%);
- Lezgins (2%);
- Armenians (1.4%);
- Russians (1.3%);
- Talysh (1.3%);
- Avars (0.6%);
- Turks (0.4%);
- Tatars (0.3%);
- Ukrainians (0.2%);
- Georgians (0.1%).
The absolute majority in the ethnic structure of the country belongs to Azerbaijanis. This people dominates in all regions and cities of the state (with the exception of Nagorno-Karabakh). In the early 1990s, the share of this ethnic group in the structure of the country's population increased significantly due to the active resettlement of Azerbaijanis from neighboring Armenia (due to the Karabakh conflict).
The most numerous nationalities of Azerbaijan and their distribution
According to the latest census, about 120 thousand Armenians live in Azerbaijan. These people live compactly within Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory not controlled by the country’s authorities, as well as in the city of Baku.
The first Russian communities arose on the territory of Azerbaijan back in the 19th century. Now there are about 200 thousand Russians living in the country, but their number is decreasing every year (mainly due to leaving the state).
A fairly large and integral Ukrainian diaspora has formed in Azerbaijan. Ukrainians began to move to this country at the end of the 19th century in connection with the active industrial development of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Poles began to come to the country (mainly Baku) en masse. Their resettlement was connected, first of all, with the “oil boom” in Azerbaijan. Both highly qualified engineers and ordinary workers came to Baku from Poland.
Cities of Azerbaijan
The population makes up only 53% of its total inhabitants (by European standards, this is very small). There are only ten cities with a population of over 50 thousand people in this country. Moreover, the capital of the state, the city of Baku, is significantly ahead of them in terms of population. At the moment it is the only million-plus city in the state.
The largest cities of Azerbaijan: Baku, Ganja, Sumgait, Mingachevir, Khirdalan, Nakhichevan, Sheki.
According to demographers, about 2.1 million people live in the capital of the state today. This city is strikingly different from all other Azerbaijani cities. Today it is actively developing and acquiring modern high-rise buildings.
Finally...
Today, about 9.7 million people live in Azerbaijan, and the population of this country is rapidly approaching the 10 million mark. The ethnic composition of this state is quite diverse. In addition to the indigenous people, representatives of many other nationalities live here - Armenians, Russians, Lezgins, Kurds, Tatars, Turks, Ukrainians, Talysh.
Located with geographical point view on the Europe-Asia border, Azerbaijan in the historical past was entrenched at the intersection of various civilizations - Achaemenid-Sasanian, Roman-Byzantine, Scythian-Khazar, Turkic-Oguz cultures. The favorable geographical location and rich nature of this region became the reason in ancient times for the transformation of this territory into a densely populated settlement. From those times to this day, Azerbaijan has gone down in history as a country distinguished by its high level of tolerance. This region is the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, the cradle of Christianity in the Caucasus, a place of widespread Islam, a territory of peaceful cohabitation of different ethnic groups, a place of mutually beneficial symbiosis of diverse cultures. Historical sources indicate that the ethnic composition of Azerbaijan was constantly expanding.
Today Azerbaijan stands out for its ethnic palette. Here, along with the Azerbaijani Turks, live such ethnic groups as Mountain Jews, Kurds, Talysh, Tats, Molokans, Ingiloi, Tsakhurs, Avars, Lezgins, Khynalygs, Buduglu, Gryz. Representatives of all of the above ethnic groups consider themselves Azerbaijanis. At the same time, they preserved elements of a specific culture. This culture is reflected in the everyday life, creativity, cuisine and various rituals of these peoples.
Ethnic groups
Jews
One of the most ancient peoples on the territory of Azerbaijan are Jews. Today, Jews live in Baku, Sumgait, as well as in the Guba, Oguz and Goychay regions. Located in the Guba region, the “Red Village” is the most densely populated by Mountain Jews locality in the world. Jews in Azerbaijan have historically been represented by Mountain Jews. Moses of Kalankatui dates the arrival of Mountain Jews in the Caucasus to the first century BC. Researchers' statements on this issue vary. According to one theory, one of the most ancient Jewish communities, the Mountain Jews, come from the line of the sons of Israel, resettled by the Shahs of Assyria and Babil from the territory of Palestine to Media. Their ancestors were the first adherents of Judaism. Living in Media, their tribes intertwined with the Tatami, as a result of which the Mountain Jews speak the Tat language, which is one of the Farsi dialects, containing words from the ancient Hebrew and Aramitic languages. Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan are divided into 3 local groups:
Guba (guboi) – Guba region of Azerbaijan, mainly in the “Red Village”.
Shirvan (Shirvoni) - North-East of Azerbaijan, the former village of Myudzhi, Shemakha region of Azerbaijan, as well as the city of Baku.
Oguz - Oguz, Ganja, Ismailly, Shemakha.
Talysh
The people living in the southeast of Azerbaijan, in the territory of Lenkoran, Astara, Masalli and Lerik regions of the Azerbaijan Republic, as well as in the north of Iran. They speak Talysh, which is part of the Iranian family of languages. Scientists of the former union considered the Talysh to be aborigines. They considered the Talysh to be the descendants of the Kadus, one of the most ancient tribes of the aborigines of Azerbaijan. But Western scientists doubt the correctness of this statement. In their opinion, the arrival of the Talysh on the territory of Azerbaijan is associated with the name of the commander Genghis Khan Talysh (XIII century). The material and spiritual culture of the Talysh is not very different from Azerbaijani.
Kurds
Today, Kurds live in Azerbaijan in the regional center of the Syadaryak region of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, in the village of Teyvaz in the Julfa region and in the village of Daryakend in the Sharur region. Also, before the Armenian occupation, Kurds lived in Lachin (the villages of Garakechdi, Chiragly, Minkend), Kelbajar (the villages of Akhjakyand and Zar were completely inhabited, in the rest they lived mixed), Gubadli (the village of Zilanly) region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. They speak Kurdish, which is part of the Iranian family of languages.
Tats
A small people living mainly in the Guba, Khizy and Khachmaz regions, as well as in some villages of the city of Baku. According to some researchers, the Tats living along the Western shore of the Caspian Sea, from Absheron to Derbent, are the descendants of ancient Iranians resettled to these lands, and, without a doubt, are one of the most ancient ethnic layers of the Shirvan territory.
Avars
Avars are an ethnic minority inhabiting mainly the Zagatala and Balakan regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. They speak the Avar language, which is part of the North Caucasian family of languages. The Avars are strongly intertwined with the Azerbaijanis. Today, Avars live compactly in the village of Gabagchol, the villages of Jar, Zilban, Mazykh, Beretbinya, Dzhindzhartala, Katekh, Meshashambul, Mahamalar, Goyamtala, maintaining close family relations with the Azerbaijanis. They practice Islam.
Shahdag peoples or Shahdag national ethnic group
Component of Azerbaijanis. The ethnic groups that are part of the Shahdag national ethnic group, according to the villages in which they live - Khinalig, Gryz, Budug and Rutul of the Guba region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, are called Khinalig, Gryz, Buduglu and Rutul. Despite the small number of these villages, the population of each of them is a separate ethnic group.
Khinaligs Among the small indigenous peoples of Azerbaijan, the Khinaligs are distinguished by specific features. The language of this ethnic group is part of the family of Caucasian languages. In historical and ethnographic literature, due to its location in the vicinity of Mount Shahdag, it is called the “Shahdag people”. Khinaligs are one of the most ancient settlers on the territory of Azerbaijan. This ethnic group has the only language and settlement in the world. This means that there is only one village and language, Khinalyg, in the world, and they are located in the Guba region.
Gryzly A small ethnic group living in the north of Azerbaijan, in some villages of the Guba and Khachmaz regions. They speak the Gryz language, which is part of the Nakh-Dagestan language family, a group of Lezgin languages.
Rutuli Ethnic group in the territory of Azerbaijan and Russia. They profess Islam, adopted with the arrival of the Arabs in the Caucasus in the 7th century. The main language is Rutul. Along with this, the Rutuli speak excellent languages of the countries of residence (Azerbaijani and Russian).
Buduglu Representatives of the Azerbaijani national ethnic group, identified as the “Shahdag national ethnic group”. The first official document that mentions Buduglu is a decree of 1607 by the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I. Historically, Buduglu were divided into separate clans, small and large family unions, and to this day bear the names of these clans. Like others mountain peoples, Buduguls lead a sedentary lifestyle.
Lezgins
One of the Caucasian peoples living in the territory of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. In Azerbaijan, Lezgins live compactly mainly in the Guba, Gusar, Khachmaz regions, as well as in Baku, Ganja, Sumgait and Mingachevir, in the Gabala, Ismayilli, Oguz and Goychay regions. Lezgins make up 2.2% of the total population of Azerbaijan.
Molokans
Today in Azerbaijan, Molokans live mainly in Baku, Sumgait, Shemakha, Ismayilli, Gadabay and Guba. The first Molokan communities in Azerbaijan appeared in the middle of the 18th century. They were exiled here for disagreeing with the beliefs of the Orthodox Church. In the famous village of Ivanovka, Ismayilli region of Azerbaijan, live representatives of the Molokans exiled here from Russia.
Ingiloi
They live mainly in the Gakh and Zagatala regions of Azerbaijan. During the time of Shah Abbas I they converted to Islam. The mostly Muslim and small Christian part of this group speak a southern dialect of the Georgian group of languages. The main occupation of the Ingiloys living in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus is tobacco growing, grain growing, viticulture, cattle breeding and the cultivation of beech-flowering plants.
Gypsies
One of the nomadic peoples of Indo-European origin, found throughout Eurasia. In order to prevent uprisings of local tribes, Shah Abbas I resettled the gypsies to the territory of Balakan. They live mainly in the villages of Shambulbine, Gyulyuzyanbine, and Myalikzade. Balakan gypsies are Persian-speaking. In addition, Roma live in Shemakha, Yevlakh and Borchaly. Gypsies have historically led nomadic image life. Along with traditional cattle breeding and horse breeding, they were engaged in blacksmithing, repairing and manufacturing various agricultural tools and small household appliances.
Assyrians
One of the ethnic groups living on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The ancient roots of this group are associated with the Assyrians, who lived in what is now Iran and Turkey. Today they live as a small ethnic group in the Zagatala zone of Azerbaijan.
Udi (Udi, Ooty)
One of the small, indigenous, aboriginal peoples of Azerbaijan. This ethnic group inhabited the province of Uti of ancient Caucasian Albania, and in the 19th century - several settlements in the Nukha region (the current Sheki region). Today they live mainly in the village of Nij in the Gabala region and partly in the regional center of the Oguz region. On the ethnic map of the world, the Udi ethnic group is located mainly on the territory of Azerbaijan. The Udins are one of the ancient inhabitants of the Caucasus. The language of this ethnic group, which has preserved its own numerous ancient elements, is included in the Lezgin subgroup of the Caucasian languages. Historically, the Udins worshiped the deity of the Sun and Moon, and at the beginning of the 4th century they adopted Christianity.
Do the autochthons have allies in the Land of Fire?
Any struggle in the modern world (and in general as such) is impossible without allies. This also applies to the struggle of the indigenous peoples of the Republic of Azerbaijan to restore their violated rights. Therefore, many of us are interested in the question: do we have any allies in this state?
I don’t think it’s worth proving to anyone that the AR government is determined to completely destroy the indigenous peoples of Eastern Transcaucasia and replace them with new generations of “Azerbaijanis.” In a normal state, one would expect that the opposition forces would take advantage of this mistake in government policy and, taking the side of the indigenous peoples, would act together with them (who represent an impressive force) against the Aliyev regime. However, in reality the opposite happens. The opposition not only does not fight the regime, but also, together with it, seeks to drown out the voice of the indigenous population of the region. In another part of the world, one would expect that representatives of the creative intelligentsia who do not participate in political life would come to the defense of the autochthonous population. But where are they, such figures? Will akrams-aylisli appear in the AR who will tell the truth about the “Azerbaijanis”, about the violated rights of indigenous peoples, and will call on the country’s authorities to repent for all the persecution and prohibitions that our fathers and grandfathers witnessed, and which we witness today?
Moreover, not so long ago in one of my articles I naively wrote that “soon they will start talking about the fact that we are renaming their “Southern Region” to “Talysh”!” We are almost closer to this date. Not long ago, news appeared on the Internet from the Baku channel about the opening of the Voice of Talyshistan radio station. A man behind the scenes reports, that “as a result of the Baku channel’s investigation, it became clear that Azerbaijani songs are translated into the Talysh language and voiced on the Talysh radio.” I won’t ask what kind of songs these are – “Azerbaijani” - because everyone knows that they were collected from songs of the Talysh, Lezgins, Parsis (Tats), Avars, Kurds, etc., translated into Turkic, and subsequently presented to the world as “Turkic”. Of course, the Turkoman tribes that now inhabit the ancestral lands of the above-mentioned indigenous peoples also have a number of their own songs, but they are in the minority. Historical monuments, belonging to our peoples, for some reason are called “Azerbaijani”. Our heroes become “Azerbaijani”. Our children, just like ourselves, are called “Azerbaijanis”. And when we say “no!” this policy of assimilation, we are simply called criminals.
There is such a concept in psychology - “covering memory”. It is “a memory that aims to hide other memories and the affects and drives associated with them. The covering memory is often a rigidly fixed, seemingly harmless reproduction of affectively charged traumatic experiences of early childhood. It represents a compromise between denial and memory - a painful experience is covered up by harmless memories of less significant events (“Psychoanalytic terms and concepts”). Sometimes a covering memory is created artificially by the intellect to replace some real memory. What is happening now with the Turkic population of the Azerbaijan Republic is exactly what can be conditionally called the syndrome of covering memories.
During the entire period of the twenty-year history of independence, a false history and a false culture are being created in the country, which are pieced together from the stolen histories and cultures of indigenous peoples. The name “Azerbaijani” or the more pompous “ancient Azerbaijani” is quickly attached to them, and without any remorse it is demanded that everyone perceive this history and culture as such. The real roots of history and culture are forgotten, replaced by a newly-minted “covering memory.” The opposition to this schizophrenia is perceived by representatives of the so-called “titular ethnic group” with manifestations of some kind of psychosis. For example, the famous website azerbaijans.com provides information about the “small peoples of the AR”. There the following is written about the Talysh: “The people living in the southeast of Azerbaijan, in the territory of Lankaran, Astara, Masally and Lerik regions of the Azerbaijan Republic, as well as in the north of Iran. They speak Talysh, which is part of the Iranian family of languages. Scientists of the former union considered the Talysh to be aborigines. They considered the Talysh to be the descendants of the Kadus, one of the most ancient tribes of the aborigines of Azerbaijan. But Western scientists (?) doubt the correctness of this statement. In their opinion, the arrival of the Talysh on the territory of Azerbaijan is associated with the name of the commander Genghis Khan Talysh (XIII century). The material and spiritual culture of the Talysh is not very different from that of Azerbaijan.”
Such information is intended for a fool, nothing more. For example, for such Talysh as someone named Hamidov, who makes the following absurd statements on social networks: “The first obvious conclusion from the history and characteristics of the Talysh people is that they are a non-state people, not seeking participation in government, not wanting conditions to limit government power, which, in a word, does not have any political element in itself, therefore, does not contain even the grain of a revolution or a constitutional structure, he writes [...]. Having separated the state government from themselves, the Talysh people retained their social life and instructed the state to give them (the people) the opportunity to live this social life. Not wanting to rule, our people want to live, of course, not only in the animal sense, but in the human sense. Not looking for political freedom, he is looking for moral freedom, freedom of spirit, freedom of social - people's life within himself.
Well, what Mongols, my God?! What kind of “Western scientists” wrote something like this? At least one name of a real scientist would be mentioned. Instead of writing about the Mongol trace within the Turkic ethnic group of the Republic of Azerbaijan, they attribute Mongolism to the Talysh. It seems that their Turkoman and Mongol past is such a big psychological trauma for them that they are trying to attribute it to us, the Talysh. The phrase that “the material and spiritual culture of the Talysh is not very different from the Azerbaijani” is close to the truth, since the so-called “Azerbaijani material and spiritual culture” in reality is nothing more than the material and spiritual culture of the indigenous peoples of this land, to the godless manner and shamelessly presented in Baku as “Azerbaijani”, or more precisely, as “Turkic”.
Another issue that needs to be touched upon is the issue of the territory of Talyshistan. In the AR, throughout the years of independence, there has been a deliberate process to reduce this territory. Not so long ago, even pro-government organizations included the areas of Ostora, Lika, Lancona, Masalona, Vargadiza (Turkic Yardimli district), Hamosharu (Turkic Jalilabad district), and Bilasyvo. Now not only Khamosharu and Bilasyvo, but also Vargadiz are excluded from it. Pan-Turkists constantly exaggerate the phantasmogoria that “Masalon (Turk. Masally) is not only Talysh.” What will happen next? The word “only” will drop out of this phrase, and it will take on the following form: “Masalon is not Talysh.” Then it will be the turn of Lancona, Lik and Ostora, and the Talysh will actually appear as a simple diaspora of foreigners. The same policy of removal from historical lands is carried out in relation to Lezgins, Avars and other indigenous peoples!
Of course, it’s time to say no to this! The territory of Talyshistan cannot be reduced and represents (according to the current administrative division) the territory of the districts of Ostora, Lika, Vargadiza, Lankona, Masalon, Hamosharu, Bilasyvo, Natachola (Turk. Neftchala), Salyon, Sabirabad, Saatly, the southern part of the Imishli district, and also part of the Khadzhikabul region up to the village of Talysh. These are lands that historically belonged to the Talysh, and we do not intend to move one iota away from them. I will also note - this is not known to many - that in 1993, Salyonians, Natacholins, Saatlinians and others expressed their desire to send their representatives to the Mejlis of the Talysh-Mugan Republic, but wartime conditions did not allow this to happen. Therefore, one should not assume that the territory of Talyshistan is exclusively the territory of the TMR of the 1993 model. The territory of Talyshistan reaches (according to the old administrative division - Alibayramli) the left bank of the Kura.
Which historical lands of the Lezgins, Avars and other indigenous peoples, of course, these peoples themselves know better than others.
By the way, once again about the “Voice of Talyshistan”. The radio continues to gain support from various Talysh groups. In this regard, it is interesting to quote a note by one of the authors of the sensational “indignant” appeal to President M. Ahmadinejad, Rafig Jalilov, which he left on his page on the social network Facebook: “So we are talking about radio in the Talysh language [allegedly broadcasting a 15-minute program in the AR – approx. R.I.] turned out to be a dummy. This was another misconception: supposedly there is an international radio in the Talysh language, which was supposed to be broadcast on Thursday at 10:15. It may have been broadcast, but there were no people who could listen to it. If there is a Talysh radio, but no one can listen to it, then who needs this radio? If Iran provides an hour of radio airtime in the Talysh language every day, if Shusha provides an hour of radio airtime in the Talysh language 5 times a day, then why does Baku broadcast radio in the Talysh language on an international wave?”
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to find some ideological trick to scare the Talysh away from the Voice of Talyshistan. Mainly, they continue to develop the thesis about the Iranian-Armenian enemy project. Baku “political scientist” Mubariz Ahmedoglu in his recent interview with “newsazerbaijan.ru”, apparently resembling a parrot that cannot learn more than a few program expressions, said: “Several times more Talysh live in Iran than in Azerbaijan, but the official Tehran does not recognize any national rights of the Talysh ethnic group. In Iran, the Talysh do not have their own cultural center, school, or print media. The leader of the Iranian Talysh lives in poverty.”
As a native of the Talysh region (from the village of Alaru, Hamosharu district), in theory, he should have declared a violation of the “national rights of the Talysh ethnic group” in the Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, and not in Iran, where, apparently, he had never been. Unlike the Azerbaijan Republic, in Iran both in Rasht and Tehran there are Talysh cultural centers and printed publications in the Talysh language, numerous books are published in the Talysh language and about the Talysh. It is unclear who he means by “leader of the Iranian Talysh.” Isn't it Ali Abdoli? Not the same Ali Abdoli, whom the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan calls almost the most important “Iranian spy” (“who collaborated in his vile affairs with Novruzali and Gilal Mamedov”)? Gentlemen, finally decide: is this person in confrontation with the authorities or at one with them?
Gilal Mamedov
Mubariz Ahmedoglu repeated another propaganda trick of the Baku authorities, launched two weeks ago: “Armenians living in Russia are building a secondary military school named after. Suvorov and Madatov. There are agreements on the use of the school for training CSTO personnel. It is envisaged that representatives of ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan will attend this school. They, in all likelihood, can be used against Azerbaijan.”
I, of course, understand that, being in a completely hopeless situation (Talysh people are increasingly asking “why is radio in the Talysh language broadcast from Armenia, and not from Lancon?” It is possible that after the opening of radio in the Lezgin and Avar languages, these will become do representatives of these peoples), the authorities are trying to find some kind of trump card in the information war, but why is it so primitive? Honestly, I would not be surprised if tomorrow one of the representatives of Azerbaijan’s political establishment says that the Martian lobby is preparing a conspiracy against the state and inciting “small peoples” to act against Azerbaijan. The truth scares them so much that they don't know what steps to take. But the truth lies on the surface: the policy of ethnocide of indigenous peoples has finally reached a dead end; unless radical steps are taken to radically change the structure of the state and the vertical of power, this state entity itself is doomed to destruction.
Instead of trying to start a constructive dialogue with indigenous peoples, they continue their amateurish attacks on the leaders of indigenous movements. A striking example is the semi-anonymous one, signed by a certain “R.Sh.” (clear handwriting of the Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Azerbaijan), which we stumbled upon purely by chance while searching for the material we needed.
To be honest, we have long been accustomed to such “masterpieces” of analytical thought by “conventional” Baku authors, under stilted and baseless statements, devoid of any logic, in which their intellectual abilities are clearly visible, or rather, the absence of any intelligence (and This is not an offensive attack, it is an unfortunate fact). The author, within the framework of the article, proves nothing more than his complete illiteracy and inability to understand the essence of more or less complex issues of the socio-political life of society. In the said article, the author is indignant about one of Fakhraddin Aboszoda’s articles, which is called “The Kremlin demands 20 billion dollars from Ilham Aliyev?” and was published on the website of one of the leading Russian news agencies. Without understanding what they were really talking about, the author, having read the name of the author of this article, immediately attacked the leader of the Movement for the Revival of Talysh, literally like a bull on a red canvas, with a whole bunch of accusations, the main one among which is that allegedly F Aboszoda writes “at the request” of some foreign enemies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, primarily, of course, the Republic of Armenia. Without going into details of all his offensive statements, inspired by the above-mentioned syndrome of covering memories (which is just one phrase in this article - “Azerbaijan is the bright Sun of the Caucasus”), I will say only one thing: if this person (or group of people) has a bit of even the slightest intelligence, then he (they) from the first time reading the article of the Talysh figure should have understood that everything that was discussed in it was published in the Baku newspaper “Yeni Musavat”. Here is a quote from an article by F. Aboszoda: “In the issue dated March 15, the same newspaper went even further and came out with sensational material under the intriguing headline “Moscow demands $20 billion and the Caspian from the authorities (AR).”
Despite the fact that the source of information from the Yeni Musavat newspaper is confidential, this is quite serious information, and it is not surprising that the political scientist focused his attention on it. Of course, for the reader and specialists, the main thing in this case is how reliable this information is. How can you verify the accuracy of this information? It’s very simple: according to unspoken rules, the official authorities of the AR, according to their own habits, had to immediately respond to the appearance of this information, confirming it or denying it. There was no such reaction from the AR authorities, and remains absent to this day. What does this mean? As centuries-old folk wisdom says, if the authorities are silent, it means that they indirectly confirm the accuracy of this information!
Moreover, in any country in the world, especially before the presidential elections, the opposition would successfully take advantage of the appearance of similar information to accuse the government of betraying national interests and the president personally of violating the Constitution! Alas, this did not happen either. To the surprise of many, both in Baku itself and beyond, not a single opposition media began to disseminate this information, and the opposition leaders, even the country’s independent politicians, as if they had taken too much water in their mouths, pretended that they had not noticed this information at all. What does it mean? This suggests that the opposition in the country, as it was, and continues to remain “pocket”, and serves the interests of the ruling Aliyev clan. Such silence in the opposition camp regarding the appearance of this information once again confirms the correctness of our statements, which have been voiced more than once in our materials, that this opposition is essentially anti-people and, for the sake of its short-term selfish interests, is ready at any moment to support all the whims President I. Aliyev!
After F. Aboszoda was convinced that there would most likely not be a reaction from Baku, he apparently decided to clarify the reliability of this information in Moscow. And, despite the fact that exactly a month has passed since the publication of the article, the Kremlin also still does not want to express its attitude to this issue. What does this in turn mean? The fact that by its silence the Kremlin also, albeit indirectly, still confirms the accuracy of the information voiced in the article. That's the whole point of the question!
Thus, there was no need for the Talysh leader to “suck out of thin air”, as the above-mentioned author writes about it, the indicated information, and there was no need to accuse him of allegedly “adding grist to the mill of those who want to compromise the Russian-Azerbaijani relationship". The gentlemen sitting in Baku, licking Ilham Aliyev day and night, must understand that “compromising Russian-Azerbaijani relations” is a task that is not within the competence of F. Aboszoda. As an analyst, he prepares exclusively his vision of geopolitical processes, which undoubtedly indicate that the upcoming reformatting of the geopolitical field in the South Caucasus region, or more precisely, on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is only a matter of time! Whether someone in Baku likes it or not is no longer our concern!
In this part of the article, I am interested in one more question: why under the article are only the initials of its author, why did he not indicate his first and last name? Maybe he's afraid of us? Maybe! But it seems to me that it’s not even about us. Apparently, the author is afraid that smart people in Baku, after reading his libel, will simply spit in his face and say: “You’re so stupid, you’re just an idiot!” I even understood what F. Aboszod’s article was about!”
Another example. Many in Baku have recently been outraged by the activation of the FLNKA and personally its president A.P. Kerimova. With one voice, all both pro-government and opposition media are raising a real wolf barking around the FLNKA. They are most interested in the following question: who gave the right to A.P. Kerimov to speak on behalf of the Lezgin people?
One is amazed at the “naivety” of these Baku pseudo-analysts and thieving deputies! As if someone (in their understanding, apparently, this is Ilham Aliyev!) should come to him and “give him such a right! They don’t even want to understand, or don’t understand at all, that rights are not given by anyone! What can I say if A.P. Kerimov, as an advanced and conscientious representative of the intelligentsia of the Lezgin people, understands his mission more and better and leads the struggle of his compatriots for the salvation of their people? The whole point is that these unfortunate Baku scribblers, without special permission and instructions from above, cannot do or write anything on their own. Therefore, it doesn’t even occur to them that the same A.P. Kerimov can just like that, without anyone’s permission, take into his own hands the initiative to liberate his people!
So, no matter how many people like a certain R.Sh. and similar brainless puppies, who do not even have a name, did not bark at F. Aboszoda and the leaders of other indigenous peoples, the caravan of our peoples is solemnly moving towards its cherished dream! With their barking and the creation of ever new covering memories (roughly speaking, lies and insinuations), they will achieve only one thing - an even greater strengthening of the antagonism between the indigenous peoples of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the “titular ethnic group”, which does not bode well for this pseudo state entity called the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Finally, returning to the question we put in the title of the article, I want to answer it, no matter how strange it may sound, positively: indigenous peoples have allies in Republic of Azerbaijan– these are the indigenous peoples of this land themselves and their closest neighbors - the same indigenous inhabitants of the Caucasus. This means that the Talysh, Lezgins, Avars, Parsis and others must finally unite their efforts in the fight against the violation of their rights and for the restoration of their statehood! As for the attacks on the leaders of the indigenous peoples of our land by the Baku sycophants, then let them live their dog’s lives. If only readers knew how many of these ownerless yard dogs, barking at respectable people, roam the streets of Baku today.
Rustam Iskandari
