Azerbaijani Nationalists
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Azerbaijani nationalism (), also referred to as Azerbaijanism () originated as a result of the
Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism () or Turkism () is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), South Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) ...
agenda expressed during the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
and historiography under the Soviet Union. Azerbaijani nationalism is characterized by
irredentism Irredentism () is one State (polity), state's desire to Annexation, annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by Ethnicity, ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the ...
directed at Iran,
Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...
, and portions of Armenia, particularly the
Syunik Province Syunik (, ) is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital and larg ...
.


Characterization

Azerbaijani nationalism is characterized by
irredentism Irredentism () is one State (polity), state's desire to Annexation, annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by Ethnicity, ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the ...
. While the Armenian nationalist claims and anger are directed towards Turkey due to the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
, the Azerbaijani nationalists are focused on Iran,
Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...
, and portions of Armenia, particularly the
Syunik Province Syunik (, ) is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital and larg ...
. Another aspect of nationalism in Azerbaijan is a sense of victimization. The belief that Azerbaijanis have been and continue to be victims of Iranians and Armenians is planted in children through state-sponsored propaganda and brainwashing in schools. Thus, to create a sense of
national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...
, particularly among the younger generations, Azerbaijani nationalism mixes their story of victimization with a depiction of the Armenian opponent. This is especially clear in the school textbooks that also assign deportations, killings, and "genocides" to the Armenians. Since 2020, the rhetoric has become increasingly irredentist and expansionist. The concept of " Whole Azerbaijan," which claims significant portions of both Armenian and Iranian territory, has been state policy since the
September 2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan clashes September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the beg ...
.


Background

Historically, the name "Azerbaijan" referred to the region south of the Aras River, in present-day northwestern Iran. The historical name of the present-day
Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...
was Arran and
Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...
. Azerbaijani national consciousness is a recent development. Before the 20th century, the
Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...
barely constituted as an ethnic group, much less a nation. The people who lived in the present-day country of Azerbaijan identified as either Muslims of the ''
ummah ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective com ...
'' (community), or Turks, who shared a language family spread out throughout a considerable portion of Central Asia, or as Persians. Unlike the Armenians and the Georgians, they employed the
Persian alphabet The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', 'ch', and 'p', respecti ...
as they lacked their own. The delayed emergence of Azerbaijani national identity has several causes. Persian culture dominated the area that would become modern-day Azerbaijan for the majority of its history, up until the 1820s. The region never formed a distinct, unified state before the Russians finished conquering it in 1828, and even when Iran ruled the area, the eastern part of the South Caucasus was composed of numerous feudal
khanates A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polities ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic or Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, and politically equivalent in status to k ...
. The ethnic diversity in many of these khanates posed another barrier to national unification. In October 1917, the people in Baku were still not interested in referring to the region in the south Caucasus as "Azerbaijan". The local populace was frequently included under terms such as ''Türk milleti'' and ''Qafqaziya müsalman Xalqi'' ("the Muslim people of the Caucasus"). Even the name of the first Constituent Assembly, which was founded on 29 April 1917 in Baku, was "General Assembly of the Caucasian Muslims". It was not until 1918 that the ethnonym and endonym "Azerbaijani" was employed in public speech. Azerbaijani national identity came together at a widespread level during the Soviet era as a result of their policies. Before the Soviet Union established its rule over Azerbaijan, there was no distinguishing Azerbaijani nationalism as a political and social force.


History


In relation to Iran


Under the Soviet Union (1920–1991)

Modern Azerbaijani nationalism has its origins in Soviet-era historiography, with the exception of the Pan-Turkist agenda expressed during the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
. The "indigenous history" of the Azerbaijani nation and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...
are specifically mentioned among "the tenets of this Soviet-nationalist mythology of Azerbaijani history and culture." Since 1918, political elites with
pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism () or Turkism () is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), South Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) ...
-oriented sentiments in the area that comprises the present-day Azerbaijan Republic have depended on the concept of ethnic nationalism to create an anti-Iranian sense of ethnicity among
Iranian Azerbaijanis Iranian Azerbaijanis (; ) are the largest ethnic minority of Iran. They are primarily found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region including provinces of (East Azerbaijan, Ardabil Province, Ardabil, Zanjan Province, Zanjan, West ...
. Over the past century,
Iranian nationalism Iranian nationalism is nationalism among the people of Iran and individuals whose national identity is Iranian. Iranian nationalism consists of political and social movements and sentiments centered around support for Iranian culture, Iranian lan ...
has effectively dealt with the military, political, and argumentative threats aimed toward
Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republ ...
. The Iranian Azerbaijanis exhibit stronger pro-Iranian and integrationist nationalist feelings and activities in contrast to the forceful nationalism seen in Azerbaijan. Prompted by the Soviets, Azerbaijani nationalists created an "Azerbaijani" alphabet to replace the Persian script in order to create an Azerbaijani national history and identity based on the territorial definition of a nation and to lessen the influence of Islam and Iran. Several myths about Azerbaijan's history and its links with Iran were created between the time the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was conquered by the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
in 1920 and the period that its heritage reappeared as encouragement for the country's new nationalists in the 1980s. The development of Azerbaijan's post-Soviet identity has been substantially impacted by these myths. One myth was that the Turks were colonized and subjugated by the Persians. According to Eldar Mamedov, this "flies in the face of historical reality. It was the various Turko-Mongol groups that invaded Iran several times, killed millions of Iranians, and ruled over them for several centuries. If any colonization, including linguistic change, was done, it was by Turks." It was the Soviet Union who initially popularized the idea of "Persian colonialism" after it was forced to withdraw its forces from the Iranian province of Azerbaijan in 1946 due to its failure to establish an independent republic there. Another myth was of a united Azerbaijan that was "divided by treacherous Persians" was also established. However, a southern and a northern Azerbaijan are not mentioned in historical accounts. The existence of two Azerbaijans is not mentioned in any historical or geographical writings in either the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
or rest of Europe. According to a more recent revisionist theory, Russia and Iran plotted to split up Azerbaijan in the 19th century. Commenting on this, Mamedov states that "Considering that Iran fought two devastating wars with Russia (1803–1813 and 1824–1828), the idea of a Russo-Iranian conspiracy against Azerbaijan is totally absurd." The claim is repeated by the Azerbaijani nationalist poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh in his poem ''Gülüstan''. Today, the majority of Azerbaijani nationalists hold this opinion. As a result, Azerbaijan's post-Soviet national identity is strongly anti-Iranian and primarily Turkocentric. It has been built in various ways to oppose Iran as "the other," not just as a country but also as a culture and historical entity. Nowadays, being Azerbaijani means rejecting any ties to Iran. The Pan-Turkists' appeal to the unity of the Azerbaijani people was exploited by the Soviet authorities during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to weaken Iran. Together with the British, the Soviet Union invaded and conquered the northern portion of Iran in August–September 1941. Azerbaijanis made up a large portion of the Soviet contingent stationed in Iran. Soviet Azerbaijanis, particularly intellectuals from Baku, managed the Red Army's Chief Administration for Political Propaganda. It was here that the concepts to destabilize Iran were defined in two Soviet-sponsored publications, ''Vatan Yolunda'' ("On the Road to the Homeland") and ''Azärbayjan''. In November 1945 the Soviets also assisted in the establishment of a puppet
Azerbaijan People's Government The Azerbaijan People's Government (; ) was a short-lived unrecognized secessionist state in northern Iran from November 1945 to December 1946. Like the unrecognized Republic of Mahabad, it was a puppet state of the Soviet Union. Established i ...
in Iranian Azerbaijan. The government formally called for the "Nation of Azerbaijan" to have autonomy inside the borders of Iran. Nevertheless, its president
Ja'far Pishevari Sayyed Ja'far Pishevari (; ; ; 26 August 1892 – 11 June 1947) was an Iranian Azerbaijani communist politician who most-notably founded and led the Azerbaijani Democratic Party, the founding and ruling party of the Azerbaijan People's Governm ...
occasionally made threats of independence against Iran. The Azerbaijan People's Government collapsed in November 1946 as a result of the Soviet Union's (hesitant) departure from Iran, widespread local protests, and Iranian military intervention. Due to their failure of conquering Iranian Azerbaijan, Soviet historians started to refer the region as "South Azerbaijan", claiming it had been divided from "North Azerbaijan". The
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent re ...
institutionalized what became the "Southern Question", which had multiple procedures and variants involved. In Soviet Azerbaijan, "progressive" Iranian Azerbaijani cultural and political
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...
s were warmly received. There were also published works by Soviet Azerbaijanis about the liberation fight of Iranian Azerbaijan. The
Union of Azerbaijani Writers The Union of Azerbaijani Writers () is the largest public organization of Azerbaijani writers, poets and publicists. It has over 1500 members at present. It was founded on June 13, 1934, when Azerbaijan was a part of the Soviet Union as the Azer ...
, in particular, printed the works of Iranian Azerbaijani writers and welcomed them with open arms. This association, together with the Azerbaijan Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, met together in December 1947 and discussed Iranian Azerbaijani literature. The Section on the History of Countries of the Foreign East was converted by the Presidium of the
Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...
into an Iranian studies institute, which was eventually renovated and renamed the Institute of Oriental Studies. It was intended to examine liberation movements throughout the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, with a focus on Iran in particular. To publish and research Iranian Azerbaijani literature, a separate branch was founded in the Nizami Institute of Literature of the Azerbaijan SSR Academy of Sciences in 1976. In order to study the "Southern Question," academic departments were also established in Soviet Azerbaijan. Broadcasts targeting Iranian Azerbaijanis started in the middle of the 1950s. After 1975, both their material and tone become increasingly extreme. In general, priority was given to the Azerbaijan Writers Union when addressing the "Southern Question." According to Stephan H. Astourian; "suffice it here to state that the Soviets devised, cultivated, and promoted the theme of "Southern Azerbaijan"." The primary literary representation of the "Southern Question," aside from historical works, was the literature of "longing" (''hasrät''). Poetry, drama, and fiction lamented that the
Aras river The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...
, which marked the border between the Soviet Union and Iran, and kept the Azerbaijanis apart from one another. Literature and history courses in Azerbaijan have incorporated these themes. Profoundly expressed
anti-Iranian sentiment Anti-Iranian sentiment or Iranophobia, also called anti-Persian sentiment or Persophobia,Ram, H. (2009): ''Iranophobia: The Logic of an Israeli Obsession'', Stanford University Press, refers to feelings and expressions of hostility, hatred, di ...
was a major consequence of this literary genre. The Soviet leadership tolerated this anti-Iranian sentiment and even supported it. There are three distinct periods to this literature and culture of "longing," which is also portrayed through music. Between 1941 and 1950, it evolved its primary symbols and style, and it became "politically and esthetically acceptable." From 1950 to 1979, when the
Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...
ruled Iran, historical discussions concerning the identity, geography, and language of the Azerbaijanis gained prominence in Soviet Azerbaijan. Any form of cooperation with Iran was extremely challenging for Soviet Azerbaijan, partly because of mutual mistrust and strict monitoring of phone and mail correspondence. Another major cause of mistrust between the two countries was the nationalism of Soviet Azerbaijan and its connections to irredentism in northern Iran. The poetry of "longing" blossomed in ''Azärbayjan and Ädäbiyyat vä İnjäsänät'' ("Literature and Longing") after the Pahlavi dynasty collapsed in 1979, signaling the beginning of a new era. For example, in June 1981,
Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...
, then the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the
Azerbaijan Communist Party The Azerbaijan Communist Party (; ) was the ruling political party in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was formed on 20 February 1920, when ...
, spoke at the Seventh Congress of the Union of Azerbaijani Writers;


Republic of Azerbaijan (1991–present day)

Less passionate anti-Iranian sentiments were also made in Azerbaijan.
Abulfaz Elchibey Abulfaz Gadirgulu oghlu Aliyev (24 June 1938 – 22 August 2000), commonly known as Abulfaz Elchibey, was a Pan-Turkist Azerbaijani nationalist, politician and Soviet dissident who was the first and only democratically elected President in pos ...
, the leader of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, made a statement about his pan-Turkist and anti-Russian views during his speech at the organization's first congress in July 1991, saying that "The reason why Iran is most frightened today is the idea of Turkism coming from the North." and "By taking an anti-Azerbaijan position, the Iranian Empire unites with the Russian Empire." The poet Balash Azaroglu showed anger at the Shah's policies against the learning of Azerbaijani language in his poems, which center on the lives of Iranian Azerbaijanis. Similar anger was displayed by Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh toward Iranian Azerbaijanis mothers who failed to teach their kids their "mother tongue," questioning if they really deserved to be called mothers. The pan-Turkist zeal was slightly reduced after Heydar Aliyev returned to power in June 1993 and Elchibey resigned as president. Aliyev recognized that extreme Turkification measures in Azerbaijan may antagonize the country's non-Turkic ethnic minorities (including groups such as the
Talysh Talysh may refer to: *Talysh people, an ethnic group of Iran and Azerbaijan **Talysh language, the West Iranian language of these people ** Talysh, a historical region on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea, inhabited by the Talysh people *T ...
and
Lezgins Lezgins ( or ) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northern Azerbaijan, who speak the Lezgin language. Their social structure is firmly based on equality and deference to individuality ...
) as well as its educated Russian speakers, some of them being ethnic Azerbaijanis. He was also aware of how much these actions infuriated Russia and Iran. The broader notion of Azerbaijanism was used, which viewed Azerbaijan as a multi-ethnic nation contained inside internationally recognized borders. Reducing the pan-Turkist discourse did not, however, mean weakening Turkism, which remains a cornerstone of Azerbaijan's post-Soviet national identity and one of its primary efforts to build the nation. The idea of "uniting" "northern" and "southern Azerbaijan", and Ataturkist secularism are among the other tenets of APF philosophy that persist under the Aliyevs, albeit to differing degrees. Simultaneously, Azerbaijan is making large-scale attempts to eradicate any traces of Persian cultural influence. This includes removing Persian-written tiles from the
Nizami Mausoleum The Nizami Mausoleum (), built in honor of the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, stands just outside the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan. The mausoleum was originally built in 1947 in place of an old collapsed mausoleum, and rebuilt in its pres ...
, prohibiting the publication of Azerbaijani poets' works in their original Persian, and removing additional Persian inscriptions from historic structures. According to Mamedov; "Ironically, in creating a history and culture for Azerbaijan, its leaders have appropriated Iran’s historical and cultural heritage, while claiming for them a Turkic character." The myth of "Azerbaijan being divided" between Russia and Iran, as well as irredentism toward "Southern" Azerbaijan, have been thoroughly included into the educational programs of Azerbaijani schools since the second part of the 1990s. While Heydar Aliyev's son and successor
Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...
has attempted to dismiss claims that his government is taking any anti-Iranian ethnic nationalist positions, the Iranian government and groups like Iranian nationalist circles, especially Iranian Azerbaijanis, are dubious about the intentions of the Azerbaijani government due to the ongoing actions of irredentist elements like Congress of World Azerbaijanis or Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement and the support that they receive from Azerbaijani authorities, both state and non-state.


In relation to Armenia

Another fundamental component of Azerbaijani nationalism is
anti-Armenian sentiment Anti-Armenian sentiment, also known as anti-Armenianism and Armenophobia, is a diverse spectrum of negative feelings, dislikes, fears, aversion, racism, derision and/or prejudice towards Armenians, Armenia, and Armenian culture. Historically, an ...
, which has its roots in past historical events and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In Soviet Azerbaijan, anti-Armenian sentiment had already been well-established. The most important topic was Karabakh, which existed before the start of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1988. In two distinct ways, it is essential to the nationalistic narrative of Azerbaijan. The first is that Karabakh is the "birthplace of Azerbaijani culture, particularly music." The second is that the Armenians "wrongfully claim it as their own." Before 1988, Azerbaijani experts did not dispute the historical Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh. In order to defend their government's anti-Armenian policies in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani politicians, journalists, and academics asserted that the region had never been a part of historical Armenia and that the region's Armenian residents were immigrants who had slowly relocated there after 1828. A strong degree of dislike is sometimes expressed toward Armenians. In 1991, Arif Mansurov, a member of the USSR Union of Journalists, published a book. It claimed that "the only people who have successfully assimilated Gypsies are the Armenians, who are of Semitic descent" and that "the greedy and terrified Armenians also have certain traits in common with Jews because of their Semitic features." Several historians from Azerbaijan also participate in spreading of this negative image of Armenians. Baxtiyar Nacafov summarized some of the main points of his book in an interview with the newspaper Millät on the day of the publication of his book titled "The Face of the Enemy: the History of Armenian Nationalism in Transcaucasia at the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Century": "Armenians are the enemies of humanity and akin to parasites"; "Armenian nationalism is worse than Nazism"; "the Armenian Genocide is a fiction"; "actually, Armenians committed genocide against the Azerbaijanis." This portrayal of Armenians has become a norm in Azerbaijani history textbooks. In less than 400 pages, the history textbook for fifth graders refers to Armenians as the "enemy" 187 times. They are described as "bandits," "cunning," "treacherous," or "bloody." They are also described as "infidels in black robes", thus stereotyping them in a religious way as well. Nine chapters in history textbooks for grades ten and eleven discuss Armenians. Words like "terrorist," "fascist," "bandit," "separatist," "barbarism," or "nasty" are associated with them. Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian sentiment sparked a process that mimicked what Armenia went through. Thus, on March 26, 1998, Heydar Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, issued a law designating March 31 as the "Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis" each year. The date alludes to the civil war known as
March Days The March Days or March Events () was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat. Facilita ...
, which broke out in Baku at the end of March 1918 between the
Musavat Party The Müsavat Party (, from ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat. The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 ...
and the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division and the Bolsheviks and the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...
. Throughout this struggle, thousands of Tatars lost their lives. Azerbaijan has also accused Armenia of genocide for death of several hundred Azerbaijanis in the town of Khojaly at the end of February 1992. Furthermore, the websites of the "Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan" claim that 150,000 Azerbaijanis who were living in
Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...
were forcibly relocated to Soviet Azerbaijan by the Armenians between 1948 and 1953. However, in reality the reason for this relocation was due to a joint request made to
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
on 3 December 1947 by
Mir Jafar Baghirov Mir Jafar Abbas oghlu Baghirov (, ; 17 September 1896 – 7 May 1956) was the communist leader of the Azerbaijan SSR from 1933 to 1953, under the Soviet leadership of Joseph Stalin. Early life Born in Quba of Baku Governorate in 1896, Baghirov ...
and
Grigory Arutinov Grigory Artemievich Arutinov or Grigor Artemi Harutyunyan (, ; November 7, 1900 – November 9, 1957) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Armenian SSR from 24 September 1937 to 12 March 1953. His tenure as first secretary was t ...
, the leaders of the Communist parties in Azerbaijan and Armenia, respectively. This resettlement was intended to provide land in Armenia for thousands of diasporan returning employees while simultaneously advancing cotton production in the
Mingachevir Mingachevir ( ) is the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 106,000. It is often called the "city of lights" because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kura (South Caucasus river), Kura River, which divides the city ...
area of Azerbaijan, where there was a lack of workers. This official victimhood story is coupled with a commemorating culture. Azerbaiijan has been pushing for the world to remember what it considers to be genocide since 1998. In order to draw attention to the hardship of Azerbaijanis, numerous websites have also been created. Laurence Broers, the Caucasus program director at
Conciliation Resources Conciliation Resources is an independent, global organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence and build peace, providing advice, support, and practical resources. It also takes the lessons learned to government decision-maker ...
explains replication of dynamics previously characterizing the line of contact around Nagorno-Karabakh along the internationally recognized Armenian-Azerbaijani borders in the political context of Azerbaijan's effort to enforce peace on its terms after its victory in the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...
, imposing a set of territorial claims articulated with increasing intensity since May 2021. He sees the deployment of Azerbaijani troops to pockets of Armenia's territory along the border between the two states as "borderization": the transformation of a line of actual control into an international border, or a future concession in a coercive bargaining game. Another set of claims concerns Soviet-era exclaves – three Azerbaijani exclaves in Armenia and an Armenian one in Azerbaijan – which were de facto incorporated into the surrounding state during conflict in the 1990s.Laurence Boers,
Augmented Azerbaijan? The Return of Azerbaijani Irredentism
" ''Eurasianet'' 5 August 2021.
The largest claim however, is the revival of a historical territorial designation for the region of
Zangezur Zangezur () is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Iran according to the Treaty of Gulistan ...
as a lost Azerbaijani ethno-space, deriving the concept from the name of a Zangezur uyezd (the right of transit across southern Armenia outlined in
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement was an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pr ...
is widely referred to in Azerbaijan as the Zangezur corridor, which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has threatened to take by force if not willingly given. On July 7, 2021, Azerbaijan reorganized its internal economic regions creating a new region bordering Syunik called "Eastern Zangezur", implying that there is a "Western Zangezur" – that is, Syunik).


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azerbaijani Nationalism
Nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
Nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
Politics of Azerbaijan Foreign relations of Azerbaijan