Zerkalo, Azerbaijan
June 19 2008
Russia supports ethnic separatism again
The situation will worsen in the course of time
by A. Rasidoglu
Policy of "physical extermination"
Yesterday a number of Russian and Armenian media outlets published a
so-called "appeal" from Lezgin and Avar organizations to "all the
people of good will" about "the danger of the physical extermination
and forcible deportation of the Avar, Lezgin and Tsakhur people".
"Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs who live in their historical motherland
in Balakan, Zaqatala, Qax, Saki, Qabala, Qusar, Quba and Xacmaz
districts of the Azerbaijani Republic say that they are in danger of
being exterminated physically and deported by force. The Azerbaijani
Republic was established on Turkish bayonets for the first time in
history in 1918, and part of our motherland was also incorporated into
it by force. The protests of indigenous Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs,
who did not want to be part of a Turkic state, were brutally
suppressed and drowned in blood. This was occupation. The Soviet
authorities, which came to Azerbaijan in 1920, did not wish to
investigate our problems and satisfy the aspirations and hopes of our
nations, and left our motherland within the Azerbaijani SSR [Soviet
Socialist Republic]. The 70 years of Soviet rule were a real nightmare
for our peoples. We were not allowed to read and write in our native
languages, our schools were closed and we became the only peoples in
the Soviet Union who were forced to pay for their education at high
schools, colleges and institutions of higher education. The pages that
mentioned our culture and history were taken out of
textbooks. Finally, we were simply excluded from the demographic
statistics of Azerbaijan. We simply ‘didn’t exist’, although in
reality the total number of Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs in the
Azerbaijani SSR exceeds one million," the appeal says (rossia3.ru).
There is probably no point in paying attention to the figure "one
million", which has no historical and real grounds. The 1999
population census in Azerbaijan registered 178,000 Lezgins, while in
Dagestan there are about 300,000 of them.
[Passage omitted: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan
violated international law and Soviet legislation by failing to hold a
referendum to allow ethnic minorities to decide their own fate]
"Occupation and ethnic cleansing"
"Thus, we state: throughout the 20th century, Azerbaijan occupied our
territories twice and usurped power in it. Azerbaijan aims to
completely oust Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs from our motherland.
[Passage omitted: Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs were forced to fight in
Nagornyy Karabakh]
"Azerbaijan continues its policy of ethnic cleansing and Turkicization
against our motherland. The lion’s share of positions in the
leadership of our districts, especially in the law-enforcement bodies,
are held by ethnic Azerbaijanis recently settled in our
territories. The police regularly carry out large-scale operations,
after which representatives of our intelligentsia disappear without
trace in Azerbaijani prisons. On 25 March of this year, Azerbaijan’s
law-enforcement agencies launched a large-scale operation in
Lezgin-populated towns and villages in Qusar and Xacmaz districts and
arrested religious figures, heads of youth organizations,
representatives of the intelligentsia, journalists, men and women –
hundreds of people. Azerbaijan has in fact declared a war on the
indigenous population of the country," the document says.
The authors of the appeal also call for more active participation in
the fate of Lezgins, Avars and Tsakhurs and for assistance in finding
out the fate of representatives of these peoples who were arrested and
taken into the depth of Azerbaijani territory. They also request that
the process of creating autonomy for "our nations on our historical
motherland" be initiated.
Russian enclaves in Azerbaijan
And this is not everything. The Lezgins who live in the villages of
Xraxoba and Uryanoba located in Azerbaijan 50 km from the Dagestani
border and are Russian citizens demand that their villages be
recognized as Russian enclaves. The total population of these villages
is about 230 persons.
[Passage omitted: the problem could have been solved without any
delays if both sides made sufficient efforts]
In 1954 the two villages were handed over to the Dagestan Autonomous
Republic as pasture territories under a resolution issued by the USSR
Council of Ministers. In 1984, the Council of Ministers of the
Azerbaijani SSR extended the document for another 20 years – until
2004. The Russian mass media says that despite the expiry of the
period during which this territory was part of Russia, there are no
documents confirming that Moscow handed them over to Baku and Baku
accepted them.
Until recently, the mass undocumented presence of Russian citizens on
Azerbaijani territory did not worry Baku. However, now the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs says that Xraxoba and Uryanoba are illegal settlements
and suggests that its residents adopt Azerbaijani citizenship or
obtain documents granting them status as migrants.
According to the Russian mass media, residents of these villages are
confident that they have all grounds to merge with Russia. The Russian
Constitution is in force in the villages, their residents take part in
Russian elections and men serve in the Russian army. In a word, the
Azerbaijani constitution is not in force here.
Hearth of separatism
Once again we saw Russia threaten Azerbaijan through its agents and
make us understand that it can play the same hackneyed "ethnic card"
again.
[Passage omitted: demographics of national minorities living in
Azerbaijan; Russian community in Azerbaijan]
In some districts [of Azerbaijan] national minorities make up most of
the population. They pose a danger of separatism which Azerbaijan has
already experienced in its modern history. However, when we talk about
a "danger", we do no mean all representatives of national minorities,
but only those who are always ready to become a tool in the Kremlin’s
filthy game, if they intend to start such a game.
It is well-known that during the "parade of sovereignties" after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, small peoples of the empire were also
overwhelmed by the euphoria of freedom. Ethnic minorities, including
those in Azerbaijan, had already formed their own "national movements"
with their own leaders whom Moscow managed to get under its thumb
taking advantage of the then chaos. And now Russia is considering
their chances of destabilizing the political situation in the country.
Separatist moods in these ethnic groups may seriously harm stability
in Azerbaijan. Note that regions densely populated by ethnic
minorities are located near Azerbaijan’s borders: Lezgins on the
Russian border, Kurds on the Armenian border and the Talis on the
Iranian border, which simplifies the task. Russian ideologists suppose
that these minorities can either break away from Azerbaijan completely
and merge with neighbouring countries or create their own political
establishments under the protection of neighbouring countries. All
this seems quite realistic especially in the light of the rapidly
changing geopolitical situation in the world and in our region.
[Passage omitted: US plans to attack Iran]
It must be noted that due to the deterioration of the Iranian nuclear
crisis, the USA is preparing for the possible use of force against
Iran. The Azerbaijani media maintain that the USA is trying to
persuade Azerbaijan to allow its territory to be used for attacking
Iran. Azerbaijan may indeed become the main bridgehead for the USA,
which does not suit Russia. First of all, this implies the emergence
of a new hearth of instability on Russia’s southern borders, and
secondly, this will cause Russia to lose its influence in the region
completely. There are a lot of refugees from Chechnya living in
Azerbaijan, including participants in hostilities against Russian
troops. Finally, Baku has no intention of quitting the openly
anti-Russian organization GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and
Moldova].
The situation surrounding the Lezgins in Azerbaijan resembles the
situation surrounding Ossetians in South Ossetia who are also
separated from most their fellow countrymen living in Russia.
Many in Baku prefer to ignore the problem of ethnic separatism. Well,
it once had deplorable consequences for our country in Karabakh. It is
believed that as Baku becomes more friendly with Washington, Russia
will play the ethnic card more actively and the situation will only
deteriorate.
[translated from Russian]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress