Artsakh, Lezgistan, Avaristan, Taloshistan

[Mher]

Re: Artsakh, Lezgistan, Avaristan, Taloshistan

Estimates of 3 main minorities in Azerbaijan

Lezgis (sunni)
"Official" population: 180,300 2.02% of overall population (2009 census)
Actual population: up to 600,000-800,000 6.5-8.5% of the inflated 9 million Azeri population. Likely up to 10% of actual population

"The 2009 Census puts the Lezghin population at 180,300 or 2.02% of the population.
However, this figure is highly disputed with other figures from Lezghin and independent sources putting the
figure at between 600,000 and 800,000. " -The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

http://www.unpo.org/downloads/721.pdf

Talysh (Shiite)
"Official" population: 112,000 1.25% of overall population (2009 census)
Actual population: up to 300,000-500,000 3.5-6% of inflated 9 million Azeri population.

"Talysh nationalists claim ethnic talysh account for 11% of Azerbaijan's population, numbering 835,000"

http://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC&pg=PA674&lpg=PA674&dq=%22Talysh+nationalists%22&source=web&ots=8aLgM9V1qo&sig=_-x9bspkEfCVjmJDiavECJZAuKg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#v=onepage&q=%22Talysh%20nationalists%22&f=false

Avars (sunni)
"Official population": 49,800 0.5% of overal population (2009 census)
Actual population: about 200,000 or 2.25% of inflated 9 million Azeri population


In addition to this, Azerbaijan's population is nowhere near 9 million. In the 1989 Soviet Census, there were 6.8 million (non-Armenian) people living in Azerbaijan, 5.8 million of which were Azeri. Through rampant war, poverty, and unemployment, we are led to believe that this 6.8 million somehow grew to 8 million by Around 2000. In reality, by 2000 their population may have already been around 5 million. http://www.azerbaijantoday.az/ARCHIVE/01/life8.html

It is very hard for me to believe their population is much higher than 5 million today, with a sizable portion of that being minorities.

http://www.panorama.am/en/region/2013/12/17/azerbaijan-demography/

[Vrej1915]

Re: Artsakh, Lezgistan, Avaristan, Taloshistan

Ադրբեջան նախագիծն ավարտվում է
Չորեքշաբթի, 18 Դեկտեմբերի 2013,


Ի սկզբանե Ադրբեջանը Խորհրդային միության կողմից ստեղծվել է որպես քաղաքական նախագիծ: 1920 թ սկզբին գավառների տարածքում, որոնցից հավաքվել էր Ադրբեջանը, կովկասյան թաթարները (ժամանակակից ադրբեջանցիները) կազմում էին բնակչության 40 տոկոսից պակաս: Սակայն ԽՍՀՄ-ը, չնայած բնիկ ժողովուրդների հանդեպ մուսավաթականների ու թուրքերի բոլոր գազանություններին, նախապատվությունը տվեց հենց նրանց:
Երազելով համաշխարհային կոմունիզմի մասին, թուրքերին դուր գալու համար վերցվեց հարեւան Իրանի տարածքի անվանումը, դրանով իսկ տարածքային հավակնություններ ներկայացնելով:
20-րդ դարի ողջ ընթացքում Ադրբեջանի բնիկ ժողովուրդները ենթարկվել են դաժան ասիմիլյացիայի: Սակայն, չնայած պանթուրանիստական գաղափարախոսության բոլոր գործողություններին, որը ներկայում էլ ուղեկցում է Ադրբեջանին, բնիկ ժողովուրդները դիմացան, եւ տվյալ պահին Ադրբեջանի բնակչության 40 տոկոսը լեզգիներ, թալիշներ, թաթեր ու հայեր են:
Վերջին 20 տարիներին հալածանքների ու բռնի ասիմիլյացիայի չդադարող քաղաքականությունը հանգեցրել է բնական դիմադրության: Ամեն օր Ադրբեջանի հյուսիսից, լեզգիների ու ավարների բնակության վայրերից ստացվում են իբր ահաբեկիչների ձերբակալությունների մասին լուրեր: Իրականում նրանք տեղացի երիտասարդներ են, որոնք խիստ բացասական են վերաբերվում տեղական էլիտաներին: Դրա վկայությունն են երկու խոշոր ցույցերը Ղուբայի (2012 թ. մարտի 1-ին) եւ Իսմաիլիի (2013 թ. հունվարի 23-ին) շրջաներում, որտեղ հոծ բնակվում են լեզգիներ եւ թաթեր: Բացի այդ, 2013 թ. ընթացքում Ադրբեջանի խոշոր քաղաքներում ցույցեր են եղել:
Ադրբեջանը ցնցվում ու ճաքեր է տալիս, արհեստականորեն ստեղծված պետությունն այլեւս չի կարող գոյատեւել: Էլմ վե հայաթ ամսագրի տվյալով (N 11, Բաքու, 1988 г. էջ 21) լեզգիները կազմում են բնակչության ընդհանուր թվի 9,6 տոկոսը, այսինքն ավելի քան 800 հազար մարդ: Փաստացի, ներկայում Ադրբեջանում ապրում է մոտ 1,5 միլիոն լեզգի: Մոտավորապես այդքան էլ թալիշ է ապրում:
Բնիկ ժողովուրդները պատրաստ են վերականգնել սեփական պետականությունները: 90-ական թթ. սկզբին հայերը Ղարաբաղում, թալիշները Թալիշ-մուղանական հանրապետությունում եւ լեզգիները Ադրբեջանի հյուսիսում եւ Դաղստանի հարավում ստեղծեցին պետության նախատիպը, սակայն այն ժամանակ մենք չէինք կարող որեւէ մեկի վրա հենվել, եւ փաստացի Ռուսաստանի հետ գործարքի մեջ մտնելով՝ ժողովրդական ազատության բոլոր օջախները ճնշվեցին: Դիմացավ միայն Ղարաբաղը:
Ներկայում բնիկ ժողովուրդները չեն ընկել, եւ եթե լինի բավարար աջակցություն եւ քաղաքական ուժեղ պլատֆորմ, բնիկ ժողովուրդները կարող են վերականգնել սեփական պետականությունը:
Էնվեր Աբդուլլաեւ, Լեզգիական շարժման վերլուծաբան
- See more at: http://www.lragir.am/index/arm/0/com....2V18vknl.dpuf

[Mher]

Re: Artsakh, Lezgistan, Avaristan, Taloshistan

Very interesting issue
Pleasant surprise seeing the issue so active at the moment
However, seeing the military build up of Azebaijan, the ruthless nature of the current regime, and the willingness of many world powers to turn a blind eye to Azerbaijan's human rights violations, the Talysh face a very uphill battle before they can form a serious threat of creating any form of separatist state/region.
Just an internal uprising/struggle itself would be more than satisfactory. Anything that can occupy the regime and prevent war on our end

[Vrej1915]

Re: Artsakh, Lezgistan, Avaristan, Taloshistan

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2013/11/09/rudik-yaralyan/

Saturday, November 09, 2013


Shots were recently fired at the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, as a result of
which Iran warned Azerbaijan that a fitting response will be given to such
steps. Iran then closed the Julfa checkpoint.

Expert on Iran Rudik Yaralian said that the checkpoint's closing was not
advantageous to Iran. `The recent border incident was more advantageous to
Azerbaijan that tries to prevent contacts on the Iranian-Azerbaijani
border, particularly the contacts of Talyshs with Iran,' Yaralian said.

In his words, Talyshs' contacts with Iran cause panic of the Azerbaijani
leadership. R. Yaralian expressed an opinion that Azerbaijan continues to
take an anti-Iranian position in the South Caucasus and that anti-Iranian
forces may rely on Azerbaijan.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

Hummatov: Talyshs were mistaken considering Azerbaijan as homeland

The Talyshs are not respected in Azerbaijan, and a policy of their assimilation is being implemented, Ali Akram Hummatov, who was President of the Talysh-Mughan Republic (1993), said during the meeting at Yerevan State University (YSU).

At the presentation ceremony of a master’s program “Talysh Studies” developed by the YSU Sub-department of Iranian Studies, the leader of the Talysh national movement made a speech, in which he discussed the problems of the Talyshs in Azerbaijan. “In Azerbaijan, the Talyshs are deprived of basic rights. We are not respected; we are being extirpated, with a policy of assimilation being implemented against us. They at the same time declare that we are brothers. This is illogical.

We want to write and read in the mother tongue. In response to our demands, they (the Azerbaijani authorities) openly say,” You, the Talyshs, have no future, you must be assimilated”, Hummatov said.

Speaking about the possibility of declaration of an independent state by the Talyshs, the national figure said: “We were mistaken. We didn’t realize certain things. We considered Azerbaijan our homeland and were even prepared to give up our lives for it, but the homeland should also defend us with might and main, and if it refuses to do it, then we have our homeland and we will build our homeland – Talyshstan”.

“Our youths already have self-consciousness. No one can stop us anymore. We will speak in Talysh and struggle for our independence,” Hummatov stated.

“Studies of the Talysh language, culture and history to be conducted by the YSU Sub-Department of Iranian Studies are extremely important in terms of raising awareness of the Talysh people,” Hummatov said, adding that thanks to programs broadcast by The Voice of Talyshstan radio station from Artsakh, many Talyshs, including Hummatov himself, began to learn Talysh.

The Head of the YSU Sub-Department of Iranian Studies Prof. Garnik Asatrian made a speech, discussing the problems of Talysh studies. In his words, much work has been done in recent years in order to promote Talysh studies: two conferences of experts in Talysh studies were held in 2005 and 2011, a number of books about the history and culture of the Talysh people have been released, and The Voice of Talyshstan radio station was launched in 2013.


26.09.2013, 14:47

Aysor.am

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

26.09.2013
Ex-Azeri Commander Brings Message Of Peace To Karabakh
Lusine Musayelian եւ Emil Danielyan
An exiled former Azerbaijani military leader currently campaigning for the rights of an ethnic minority in Azerbaijan visited Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday two decades after confronting Karabakh Armenian forces on the battlefield.

Alikram Hummatov, a retired colonel who had served as Azerbaijan’s deputy defense minister, deplored the 1991-1994 war and called for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as he met with university students in Stepanakert. His messages of peace and criticism of the current Azerbaijani government repeatedly drew cheers from an audience that is too young to remember the horrors of the war.

“It’s nice to be in Artsakh,” Hummatov declared, using the Armenian name of the disputed territory. “I believe that we must do everything to establish peace in the region so that our beloved children live, create and study in peaceful conditions.”

“I always say that if you fight in a war like a real man, you must also be able to make peace like a real man,” he added.

Asked by RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) how he feels about visiting a region which he had sought to forcibly put back under Azerbaijani control, Hummatov said, “Yes, I went to war against Nagorno-Karabakh and I don’t make secret of that, but today I hate war because of having seen it. What gave me the right to send young men to the battlefield? This and many other questions are keeping me restless.”

Hummatov, who also met with Karabakh parliament speaker Ashot Ghulian, rose to prominence in Azerbaijan in late 1991 as one of the organizers of first Azerbaijani army units. He set up a battalion, subsequently expanded into a brigade, that largely consisted of fellow Talysh, an Iranian-speaking ethnic group concentrated in Azerbaijan’s southeastern region bordering Iran. The unit battled Armenian forces at various sections of the Karabakh frontline in 1992-1993.

Hummatov became deputy defense minister several months before proclaiming in June 1993 a short-lived Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic amid political turmoil in Baku. He was deposed and arrested later in 1993. He subsequently received a life sentence on treason charges.

The Azerbaijani authorities pardoned and freed Hummatov in 2004 under pressure from the Council of Europe. The 65-year-old has since lived in Europe.

Hummatov travelled to Karabakh from Armenia where he inaugurated on Tuesday a graduate program of Talysh studies at Yerevan State University (YSU). Addressing dozens of university professors and students, he praised the initiative approved and clearly encouraged by the Armenian government. He claimed that the Azerbaijani authorities have been suppressing the cultural rights of Talysh as part of a long-running policy of forced assimilation.

According to the Regnum news agency, Hummatov also called for the revival of the Talysh republic, suggesting that it form a “confederation” with the rest of Azerbaijan.

Hummatov’s trip to Armenia and Karabakh has caused a stir in Baku, with many politicians there condemning it as high treason and accusing the Armenians of fanning Talysh separatism. “The Armenians are thus trying to show that Nagorno-Karabakh’s existence within Azerbaijan is impossible,” 1news.az quoted Zahid Oruj, a pro-government parliamentarian, as saying on Wednesday.

Another news agency, Salamnews.org, reported that Talysh leaders in Azerbaijan have issued a statement condemning Hummatov and saying that he cannot speak for their community. “The Talysh have given many martyrs in the battles for Karabakh’s liberation from the Armenian aggressors,” they said.

Azerbaijani officials accused the Armenian side of whipping up separatist sentiment among their country’s Talysh and other minorities even before Hummatov’s high-profile visit. In particular, they condemned the launch last March of Talysh-language radio broadcasts from Karabakh.

The Voice of Talyshstan radio station was founded by Garnik Asatrian, a prominent Armenian academic who also set up the Talysh studies program at YSU. Welcoming Hummatov at Armenia’s largest university on Tuesday, Asatrian denied any ulterior motives behind the Armenian interest in the Talysh people.

Asatrian insisted that YSU is simply expanding its department of broader Iranian studies. “The Talysh are one of the largest Iranian ethnic groups,” he said. “Besides, despite the religious difference, of all indigenous peoples, the Talysh are the closest to the Armenians in terms of culture and genetic parameters.”
«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան © 2013

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/25119070.html

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

A Talysh question on the net:

http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?/topic/43630-the-talysh-issue/

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

FLAG OF TALYSHISTAN

http://xumarov.deviantart.com/art/Talyshstan-297957863

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

Talysh Thinktank in Iran
Igor Muradyan
Tuesday, 14 August 2012,


In the town of Resht of the province of Gillian, Iran, a Center of Study of Issues of Talyshistan has been set up. Note that this organization is called of Talyshistan, not Talysh.

In the 1990s and 2000s the officious sets of Iran scrutinized the Talysh issues in Azerbaijan. At that time, the intricate network of the Iranian protégés was set up in the southeast of that country, as well as in Baku and Sumgait and other regions with tight knit Iranian-speaking communities.

Now one can be sure that Iran keeps the social and political processes in Talyshistan, as well as Azerbaijan, the area of settlement of the Talysh people, under control.

Now Iran has set to foster different organizations of the Talysh Diaspora, first of all in Russia, Ukraine and Germany. The Iranians conduct a very rational policy on the Talysh issue, not focusing on the Islamic issue, at least in this stage.

Unfortunately, earlier the Iranian think tanks did not have the awareness of putting forth the Talysh issue on the international arena which reflected the officious position. Now this awareness is in place but do the Iranians understand what should be done in such cases? As well as the Near East, Afghanistan and other regions, they have been working in a political vacuum for a long time.

The establishment of this think tank in Resht, near the border of Talyshistan, reveals Iran’s efforts to accelerate and intensify the national Talysh movement, and most probably very soon the establishment of Talysh political institutions, including the executive and the government, will be announced.

Most probably, the establishment of this center is related to the issue of establishment of a hotbed of development of the Talysh state. It should be noted that Iran is competing with Russia for the absorption of the national Talysh issue. Currently Russia and Iran have no agreement yet though some Talysh figures are trying to offer their proposals to the representatives of both countries.

Israel also focuses on the Talysh issue, which may be related to not only intelligence but also readiness for geopolitical “editing” in the South Caucasus.

There is no information on the echo of the Americans. Ostensibly, the United States is closely following these processes.

The Talysh issue may mark the beginning of a new cycle of geopolitical alignment of the region. In this stage it is very important to involve the European community in the Talysh discourse.

As the world treats Armenia with unseen cynicism and hypocrisy, our country must make huge effort to generate the national Talysh movement.

- See more at: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/pol....jkYxlFnu.dpuf

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia will be the winner if manupulation of politics could be put in action

PERSO-ARYAN PEOPLE
Talyshistan

http://www.fravahr.org/spip.php?article201

LIFE, CULTURE AND HISTORY OF TALYSH PEOPLE
Friday 11 August 2006, by G. Haghighattalab

The Talysh number more than 600,000, of which 430,000 live in Talyshistan, a country included by Stalin’s regime in the artificial state of Azerbaijan in 1921. Talyshistan forms now the south-east of the Republic of Azerbaijan, near the Iranian border. The capital of Talyshistan is Lenkoran. Other major towns are Lerig and Astara on the Iranian border. The rest of the Talysh live across the border in the Iranian province of Gilan, in a long strip of territory along the Caspian coast, from Astara to the Rasht area. They occupy a land of sharp contrasts, ranging from the high, forested Talysh Mountains, to the subtropical coastal land along the Caspian Sea.

The Talysh refer to themselves as Talushon, and speak an Indo-European language (as Persian and Armenian…) affiliated to the Persian (Farsi) language. The language is also called Talysh. Most of the Talysh nation speaks its native language, while also able of speak Azeri, Russian or Farsi. The Talysh have lived in the southwest Caspian Sea region for thousands of years.

During Turk-Seljouk invasions, Talyshistan payed a high price. Nevertheless, even in those black days of Turkish oppression in the Middle Ages, Talysh people resisted bravely and managed to establish statehood (khanate) in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Talyshistan and the Talysh people of present day Azerbaijan fell under Russian control after the Gulistan and Turkmenchey treaties. Since that date, Talyshistan was to be separated in two parts, Southern and Northern. Most of the Talysh nation found itself under Russian rule, separated from their relatives in the south, and from their natural, Iranian/Oriental culture.



During the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalin included various people’s native lands (Armenians, Lezghins, Talyshs, Avars, Georgians, Tzagours, Tats…), to create the Republic of Azerbaijan, placing the whole under the relative majority rule of the Turk-Tatars, now renamed Azeris. Stalin’s need for this artificial republic was dictated by its aggressive Bolshevik Revolutionary plans. By naming this heterogeneous Republic “Azerbaijan”, he — with the help of “The Democrat Party of Azerbaijan” — clearly wanted to invade and annex the northern parts of Iran, historically called Azarbaytchan / Aderabadagan / Adrobadene / Aturpadegan.

JPEG - 4.5 kb
Pishevari
Stalin realized his plan at the end of WWII, when the Soviet Army invaded Northern Iran, and ruled it for two years through his mercenary, Pishevari. Then the Western Allies intervened and imposed the Soviet retreat. By giving power to then Caucasian Tatars (Turks), he was again doing it according to his Bolshevik plans, which pleased Turkey and its “anti-Western” dictator, Mustafa Kemal… (see also the fate of Nakhitchevan and Karabagh placed under Azerbaijan rule following the same accord Stalin-Kemal in 1921).

After 1921, life was not very easy for Talysh people. They submitted to hidden Turkification plans, under the cover of Sovietisation. The KGB in Baku labelled all “nationalist” Talish intellectuals as anti-revolutionaries, and sent them to Siberia or made them disappear in the Caspian.

JPEG - 2.7 kb
Heidar Aliev
Hidden Turkification turned aggressive after WWII, with many of the Talysh “turning” Azeri, mainly in major towns where they were exposed to discrimination. Things got bad with the nomination of Heidar Aliev, as chief of the KGB in Azerbaijan. During his rule he once claimed “achieving the dilution of 300,000 talysh peoples into Turk Azeris”. The situation got worse after Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991. The same draft problems appeared in Talyshistan, related to the war in Karabagh (see similar details in Lezgistan, Zagatala…).

In 1993, at the height of the war in Karabagh, and with it, the huge human losses of the Talysh people, a popular uprising began in Talyshistan. People refused to serve in the army, since Karabagh and Armenia were not a matter for the Talysh. Oppression followed.

In reaction, the Talysh declared independence from Azerbaijan, in the 7 districts of Talyshistan, with Lenkoran as a capital. The official name was “The Talysh-Moughan Republic”; it included all territories south of the Kura and the Araz rivers. Baku’s reaction was furious, not least because there are huge oil fields in Talyshistan and off its Caspian coast.

Heidar Aliev sent the Army, and crushed the independence movement. Western sources reported dozens killed. Hundreds were sent to neo-KGB cells in Baku and Gobustan prisons. The leader of the revolt is still in prison, and is considered by the international NGOs as the N° 1 political prisoner in Azerbaijan. They have called on Aliev to free all political prisoners, among them the President of Talyshistan, Alikram Gummatov (it is said he was released from prison and escaped recently).

Azerbaijan is the only state in the European sphere to have political prisoners. Some opposition figures estimate their number at more than 11,000.

National characteristics

The majority of the Talysh are farmers. In some areas, rice is the primary crop; in other, wheat and barley are grown. Tea and citrus fruits are raised in the lowlands near the Caspian Sea. Talyshistan’s Tea is famous in the Caucasus and the ex-USSR. Many of the Talyshes living in the lowlands cultivate fresh produce, including garlic, onions, pumpkins, melons, peas and grapes. But not all Talysh are farmers. Some have become skilled craftsmen. Their primary handicrafts include the silk production, rugs, and felt. Some work with tin, make shoes, or design xxxellery.

The Talyshes living in mountainous areas typically live in flat roofed homes built of uncut stone. Those on the coastal zone live in clay houses that have roofs made of reeds or sedge (grass like plants with solid stems). The homes usually have high doors reaching to the ceiling, since there is no opening in the roof to allow smoke from the cooking fires to escape. The traditional Talysh homes have no furniture. However, today, a growing number of homes have adopted Western-style furnishings. Talysh women once wore traditional Muslim clothing, which consisted of veils over their faces and long robes that completely covered their bodies.

JPEG - 14.5 kb
Talysh Woman
Mahbuba Fatullayeva, 103, spends her day doing farm shores such as feeding the chickens and churning butter by hand (taken from Azeri.com)
Today, many Talysh women, especially those in Talyshistan, have abandoned the customary outfit and wear Western-style clothing. Although Islamic law permits men to have as many as four wives, most Talysh men take only one wife. Boys usually marry while they are between the ages of 16 and 20; whereas, girls usually wed while they are between the ages of 14 and 18. The groom’s family is required to pay a bride price, or kebin, which consists of money and items such as carpets and utensils. To avoid paying the kebin, a young man will sometimes “kidnap” the prospective bride, taking her as wife. This a kidnap where the 2 partners are consentient, and part of Caucasian folklore.

The Talysh are Muslim Shias, as the Iranians. Some remnants of Talysh pre-Islamic religion remain. For example they have a reverence for trees and groves (as do Armenians), and trees form some of their most sacred sites. They also believe in the presence of both good and evil spirits, with the most dangerous spirit being Alazhan, the “Red Woman”. Alazhan is believed to attack women during childbirth as well as new-born babies.

P.S.
Talysh became a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) on 26 June 2005: see here.

http://www.fravahr.org/spip.php?article201