Armenian conference discusses rights of Azerbaijan’s Talis minority

Arminfo
23 May 05

YEREVAN

The first international Talis [ethnic minority living in Azerbaijan’s
southern districts] conference on Talis studies held in the resort
town of Tsakhkadzor has decided to found the International Talis
Association. Orientalists from different countries of the region will
join the association.

A coordination council of the association has also been founded at the
initiative of the Yerevan-based Caucasus centre of Iranian studies,
the organizers of the conference have told Arminfo. The coordination
council will organize workshops and publish reference books.

“We hope that the association will help the Talis people preserve
their national identity, language and culture,” a statement adopted by
the workshop reads.

A suggestion by the Azerbaijani Talises to urge the UN and the OSCE
“to help put an end to the violation of the basic rights of the
Talises in Azerbaijan” was not adopted as the representatives of
Iran’s and Georgia’s Talis communities rejected it.