07.07.2005The prospective of Talishian national movement
Some allegedly “forgotten” problems concerning to Talishian, Lezgian and other ethnic factors are recently being discussed in the context of regional processes. In this sense the first Talishian scientific conference held in Armenia with the representatives of Talishian national movement is very expressive.
As a matter of fact the Talishian national movement, with its ideological trends and with more or less direct aims, has formed in 1993, when in Talishian regions of Azerbaijan was declared the Talish-Mougan Autonomous Republic. The Talish people, who had never had an experience of national liberation movement in the past, made an attempt of self-organization in summer 1993. Though they have always expressed dissatisfaction and concern about the violation of Talish national rights in Azerbaijan, but, for some reasons, it has never brought forward distinct political goals furthering the struggle to realize them.
The developments in summer 1993 were the first attempt to organize a national movement, that’s why there were serious contradictions concerning to formation of national goals among the leaders new in the politics, for example- freedom or autonomy? The movement was caused by the state disintegration of Azerbaijan, a real challenge for the state embodied in a long term invisible threats.
The Talish politicians, who were the former active figures in the social-political field of Azerbaijan, in summer 1993 were pushed to decide what to do with the system collapse of that country: disintegration of the authority, the defeat in Karabakh conflict, etc. Under such conditions the national movement provided serious recourses of definiteness and self-organization, which was nourished by ethnic self-preservation sources mixed with orientation, which was directed to restore the violated rights and the displeasure accumulated on national bases. For the Talish politicians the change into national sources was conditioned by the deep disappointment resulted by the events in Azerbaijan, when the country’s foreign and internal policy officially adopted pro-Turkish orientation.
In these conditions of public concern and uncertainty the necessity of national unity and self-preservation, which would give a chance to gain security with combined efforts, became more essential. In these terms was pushed forward the Talishian “national idea", which was embodied by the declaration of Talish-Mughan Autonomous Republic in the territory of Azerbaijan. Many active politicians in Azerbaijan’s social-political life (Alakram Gumbatov), former officials, who faithfully served Baku, as well as some intellectuals (Farhadin Aboszoda) involved in politics launched the national movement. For good reason we think that the leaders of the movement were also in good relations with the Caucasian Muslim leader Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazadeh. Later on he has once solicited Heydar Aliev to released Gumbatov from prison.
It is noteworthy the fact that during this period the leaders of the autonomy and the activists of the movement were moving from village to village to explain the people their aims and problems. According to the members of the movement the elder generation was more conservative than the youth, and “the national revolutionists” were given a cold reception by them. But it was a real surprise for the members of the movement that some Turkish speaking and almost completely assimilated Talishes from Jalalabad arrived in Lenkoran and asked to be included in the autonomy formation work.
While appreciating the prospective of the Talish movement we should take into consideration that it has quite a big amount of resources and the campaign of national ideas and the possible processes in that direction can activate a big variety of assimilated population.
Anyway, the Talish autonomy didn’t have a long life. The negotiations of the autonomy leader Alakram Gumbatov with Azerbaijan’s new president Heydar Aliev aiming to be given autonomy fails and soon military forces are transferred into the districts populated with “insurgent” Talishes. The national movement deliberately doesn’t resist with a fair anxiety that even a shot can cause a genocide of the Talshes.
Baku fiercely presses the movement, some of the leaders are arrested and the others are banished. The leader of the autonomy Gumbatov is sentenced to death which is later on changed into the life sentence under the international pressure. In 2004 the Azerbaijani authorities, under the pressure of European institutions, release him and he leaves for Netherlands to join his earlier banished wife. As for Gumbatov, we should notice that he has never regretted for the above mentioned activities and while under the trial in Baku, he made a few strict announcements against the violation of his nation’s rights in Azerbaijan.
The banishment in the movement becomes something common and in the middle of 1990s many representatives of the middle level leave Azerbaijan.
Today the main bodies of Talishian movement are in Russia, where there are several organizations, web-pages, press etc. The movement also has its units in Belarus, Netherlands as well as in Azerbaijan, where, no wonder, it acts secretly. In the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan there is a special department which is engaged in the Talishian problems.
All these proves that Russian Federation is too interested in the movement, and as a matter of fact, it has become the movement’s “intellectual” and “informational” supporter.
In the context of the Talishian problem it is very important the role of the first Talishological scientific conference with the participation of the representatives of the Talishian national movement.
Of course all these is the reflection of political certain logic and processes. And the visit of the movement’s participants to Yerevan, and their rough announcements addressed to Azerbaijan leave no way for them to return to Baku, thus little by little the movement “takes deeper roots” and the next possible step is an armed conflict.
The movement’s representatives visit to Armenia aimed to get out of the informational-political isolation and to gain new opportunities. It is very interesting that the representatives of the movement came here with certain political goals. First of all the movement will try to acquire autonomy in the territory of Azerbaijan and as a result of certain processes it doesn’t rule out the declaration of independence.
If we observe the problem in the context of Azerbaijani parliamentary elections in autumn and some processes pushing Azerbaijan to “federalization” and “democracy” then the deepening roots of the Talishian movement and the undertaken possible steps using the Armenian factor can lead to the de facto disintegration of that country.
Besides the possible formation of Talishian autonomy can awake the burst of national self-consciousness in the other national minorities living in Azerbaijan and particularly the Lezgis.
At the same time the federalization of Azerbaijan can develop in comparatively milder internal political or intersystem way excluding ethnic problems. It means that in this case it can happen under the comparative control of Baku. Maybe just in this context we should regard the announcements made by the deputies of Mili Mejlis about the necessity of Azerbaijan’s “federalization”.
Anyway, in the regional processes the role of “not recognized nations” becomes extremely important. Under the certain conditions of policy planning and effective steps the existence of this factor makes Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the violations of the rights of national minorities are a common thing, very vulnerable.
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