Azerbaijan - Siyavush of our century

Tehran-94

I stepped out on the balcony of Tehran's "Isteglal" hotel: the city on the hills was covered in a haze, either from smog or from the greenhouse effect caused by the difference between day and night temperatures (we call it şeynəm). It was probably a bit of both: there are a lot of car models from the 1960s in the city, and as the hot July sun goes down the temperature in the mountains noticeably drops and the air saturated with vapor condenses.

However, it was not the city fog that caught my attention; it was something completely different - satellite dishes. There were a huge number of them, in fact, on all the city's two-storey buildings which make up the main architectural characteristic of the Iranian capital. Satellite dishes hadn't yet been so popular in Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Domestic TV channels, except for "Gostelevideniye", were free to a certain extent, and the country's central TV centre was broadcasting relatively independent Russian, Turkish TV programs at the time. Thus, there was no urgent need in alternative TV channels.

But then on the balcony of "Isteglal", as an independent media journalist, I came to the conclusion: since the whole population in this country is watching the alternative, then the regime and its ideology are in deep crisis. It is an unequivocal protest, a silent boycott by the population of the official ideology.

While at the hotel I asked the waiter which foreign TV channels people actually watch. The dialogue flowed in the Azerbaijani language. Note that in Iran the Azerbaijanis call themselves Turks, and the language is accordingly Turkish. As a matter of fact, before 1936 Azerbaijanis were officially called Turks in Soviet Azerbaijan. Then, in order to alienate the local population from the Ottoman Turks, the nationality was officially called "Azerbaijani" by the name of the country, and Shiism, as opposed to Sunni Islam as practised by the Ottomans, became the dominant religion.

The waiter remarked that most people watch Turkish TV channels, as the language is understandable and the lifestyle is secular, European - attractive...

...I remembered the early 1970s. At that time our modern televisions, with a strong south wind, suddenly began to receive Iranian TV channels from time to time. It was intermittent, but still so that one could watch pictures of western films and commercials. Commercials were something else. They were nearly non-existent in the USSR. After the Ayatollahs came to power in Iran in 1979, there was nothing to watch...

...What is it, this majority? We were at the Centre for Political and International Studies of the IRI Foreign Ministry. Heydar Aliyev was speaking in his usual manner as the leader of the former USSR. That is how he looked, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, and as the President he now represented the country with population of 7.8 million people and with area of 86.000 sq. km, on which Tehran had rushed, thinking that after disappearance of the Russian Empire the sovereign Azerbaijan that broke away from Persia in the 19 century should return to the bosom of Iran.

...Against the background of these claims, which I heard from politicians, and even from uninformed laymen, suddenly I heard the raised voice of Aliyev: "Azerbaijan recognizes the territorial integrity of Iran!"

What? Did you hear that? Here in Tehran? I look at the Iranian diplomats present in the hall. Their faces are calm. Aliyev continues his speech.... Applause.

As the President stepped down from the rostrum, he was immediately surrounded by the friendly people.

I seized a moment and continued my conversation with the local Foreign Ministry employees. It turned out that most of the Ministry's employees were Azeris. They were also well represented in all the structures of the Iranian state system.

Interestingly, I thought, this means that over more than a thousand years of Turkic rule in Iran, including the last Pahlavi dynasty, despite the use of Farsi as the state language, the Iranian Turks have not lost their identity and influence. 

Many people abroad, who do not understand the intricacies of Iran's political life, consider Azerbaijanis to be a national minority. In reality, however, they are the backbone of the state, irrespective of its structure - monarchy or clerical, in a unique alliance formed over a millennium with the Persians.

This symbiosis is reflected in the essay "Siyavush of our century" by Mammad Emin Rasulzadeh, Azerbaijani intellectual, chairman of the National Council of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920).

It should be added that in his essay Rasulzadeh, using archetypical images from "Shahnameh" by Ferdowsi, presents his canvas of the ethnic fate of the Azerbaijani nation symbolized by the son of Iran and Turan, the epic hero Siyavush, an allegory of Azerbaijan.

...We continued the conversation. "What is the number of Azerbaijanis in Iran," I asked.  "Just a minute," he said and left.  He returned with a paperback, opened page with the latest report of State Statistics Committee of IRI: "27 million, according to the latest census". "It is close to our figures," I said to myself. 

"So who do they think they are?" - I continue the dialogue. "Iranian Turks," he replies. - The Azeris were the vanguard of the anti-Shah revolution and were convinced that a democratic system would create the conditions for the implementation of cultural rights - education in the native language, its use in public life, the media and so on. However, the clerical regime essentially continued the Shah's policy in this area."

Yet my interlocutor revealed to me the secret behind the seven seals of the Iranian state machine: "We realize that sooner or later this system of government will collapse. There is a lot of frustration with the realities of the post-revolutionary period. Much of what was heralded as the ultimate goal of the revolution has failed to materialize. Three scenarios for the state structure of Iran in the post-clerical period are considered:

1. Granting cultural autonomy to large ethnic groups within the framework of a unitary Iran.

2. Should this prove insufficient, a federal structure will be proposed.

3. Should this not suffice, a confederal structure will be proposed.

But in any case, the Azerbaijanis of Iran are not interested in the collapse of the country." As another Azerbaijani diplomat told me, "Where are you in a hurry? Iran is ours, and we are not going to give it to anyone."

However, not everything is so clear. At that moment, one could say, everything was far from idyll.

...Heydar Aliyev on his first official visit to Iran (June 29-July 2, 1994). He talks with President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and other figures (I was not present at the meeting with Iran's spiritual leader Khamenei) playfully, as if he is the Shah of Iran from the Safavid dynasty who has returned home. It was something like a game of chess: oriental jokes, banter, hints from both sides. "I am glad to visit Iran, I am here in a friendly country among my brothers," Aliyev said. "Iran and Azerbaijan are bound by fraternal ties, we are concerned about the crisis in the Caucasus and cannot remain indifferent," Rafsanjani replied.

Aliyev insisted on going to Tabriz. He was eager to get there. However, the Iranians cunningly avoided organizing a visit to the ancient capital of Iran – Azerbaijan. They offered to go to Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. The island was declared a free trade zone. So they offered to get acquainted with the Iranian experience of the FTZ in the forty-degree heat.

Aliyev and a small group left for Kish. The heads of Ministries and departments remained in Tehran to prepare intergovernmental agreements. In the evening they went out to get some air tipsy. I wondered if it was really impossible to do without vodka for three days. Perhaps they worked with Iranian partners in this way. Alcohol is banned, but just like with satellite dishes, taboo is dispensed with, and underground drinking is not sensational.

The delegation was supposed to return the same day in the evening, but did not show up. Only the next day, around 9 pm, I met the late journalist of "Azadlig Radio" Elmira Amrahgyzy at the entrance to the hotel. She literally trudged along with the rest of the participants of the trip, falling off her feet.

Here's what she told me, collapsing on the sofa in the lobby of the hotel: "It's a living hell. The heat and humidity were unbearable. It was as if we were being bullied. The President was indignant. But, we were surprised when he told the Iranians that he liked Kish, and that he would like to get to know the island's life more closely. He had such an expression on his face, as if he was not under the scorching sun, but somewhere in Siberia. It was difficult to sleep at night even under the air conditioners. Aliyev preferred to sit in the water, although the water in the bay was quite warm. The next day, he also walked briskly through the Kish to the surprise of the Iranian escorts."

We talked with Elmira and it was suddenly reported that the President was summoning senior officials – the so-called working group with reports on the prepared draft agreements. I'm standing in the hallway opposite the Presidential room. I hear a voice like a wounded bear. Ministers pop out like corks from a bottle of champagne. It turns out that there is nothing to sign.

Heydar Aliyev and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sign a joint declaration

We have to return to Baku empty-handed the next day. The half-hour meeting between Rafsanjani and Aliyev dragged on. Another hour. And suddenly they proclaim the declaration of the presidents, although there are no agreements, but they signed a whole package of memoranda. What he did to Rafsanjani there, only Allah knows. However, Aliyev was climbing up the plane's ramp with his head thrown up.

I told about this episode of Aliyev's visit to the then Israeli Ambassador, Elezer Yotvat, an old soldier who knows Iran well. The ambassador pointedly replied that Aliyev had told him that he would never forgive the Iranians for this.

Your security officers are working well, Yotvat told me a year later, hinting at the capture of the Iranian residency red-handed in the house at the intersection of Uzeyir Hajibeyov and Rashid Beybutov streets.

Tehran-2000

Six years later I returned to Iran as part of a group of editors Gunduz Tahirli ("Azadlig"), Rauf Arifoglu ("Yeni Musavat") Rashi Algysh Musayev ("Yeni Azerbaijan"). Rashad Medjid (“525th newspaper”), the head of the journalist organization "Ruh" Aflatun Amashev and correspondent Safar Humbatov.

And this time, from the balcony of the "Isteglal" hotel, I watched the same morning fog, but without plates. They disappeared somewhere. It was as if they had moved to Baku. Now our plates became a mandatory attribute of balconies and roofs of houses. The authorities, as in Iran, began to significantly restrict freedom of expression, all TV channels turned into one big AZTV with a single agenda and way of thinking.

...One evening we were invited to visit by a local Azerbaijani from among the nationalists. We change taxis one by one: is there any surveillance? And here we are at home. An ordinary Tehran private house with a small courtyard. At home, women without headscarves. Everything is like ours. The TV is broadcast by a Turkish TV channel. I am surprised to ask the owner of the house: "How do you watch Turkey without plates." The fact is that since the end of 1994, the Iranian authorities have banned satellite dishes.

He explained, smiling, that they manage to put the plates in such a way that they are not noticeable even despite you can see them from the sky. Usually, the authorities periodically inspect the roofs from helicopters. But at the same time, they pre-report monitoring. People cover plates with cloth. Everyone pretends that they do not exist or do not notice them, but at the same time the authorities know that plates are still in use.

Oops! This means that the authorities are no longer able to impose a strict ban. But this is understandable, the authorities themselves, as well as the families of officials, cannot refuse the only outlet in this Pharisaic system.

In Tehran, women behaved noticeably more freely on the streets, the headscarf slid down on the back of the head, all the colors of the rainbow on the face, smoking, driving cars. Not far from the hotel, a crowd attacked the department of IRGC (law enforcement forces of the Republic of Iran) to repel a woman who was detained by the guardians of religious law and order.

A curious thing also happened to us – we got into a minor accident. One of our two jeeps was clipped by an Iranian "Peikan" (English car model of the 1960s, which still continued to come off the assembly lines of the "Khodro" plant at the turn of the century). Our drivers tried to resolve the situation, showed certificates. However, this angered the crowd even more. No sooner had we left than the road was blocked and surrounded. We had to intervene. The sight of the guys in ties somewhat cooled the ardor of the Iranians. Still guests. Grumbling, they dispersed.

We were accompanied by two employees of the Iranian Foreign Ministry – a young man and a woman. Both are ethnic Azerbaijanis. She is beautiful – wrapped in all green and black, sometimes suffocated in the heat. She seemed to have asthma. They talked about this and that, but they invisibly outlined the boundaries of political, however, and quite everyday topics. One day I began to compare the Iranian regime with the Soviet one, and Khomeini with Lenin. The diplomat squinted: "Bring down to land!" ("Yernyan gedin"). They especially avoided the topic of the national question. Okay, I studied this problem in shops, stalls. Azerbaijani was spoken everywhere. All the questions were answered.

It was more difficult with the Ministers. We had meetings with Azerbaijani Ministers. During such meetings, Ambassador Abbasali Hasanov was with us. He was a strong diplomat and his status was taken into account. He behaved somewhat freely, taught Iranians a healthy lifestyle. The Ministers usually started speaking Azerbaijani, but then switched to Farsi, the official language. It annoyed us. In the end, at the fifth meeting with the most influential of them – the head of the Superministerium of Roads and Transport, Rauf Arifoglu asked why the Ministers did not speak their native language: "Is it forbidden?".

"Who said that?", – the Minister answered the question with a question, and immediately noticed that he was not going to switch to Farsi. He is from Tabriz, a former governor of the province of Azerbaijan, as soon as he learned that Gunduz Tahirli is a direct descendant, grandson of the Azerbaijani satirist poet of the early 20 century Mirza Alakber Sabir, immediately broke into a smile, noting that since childhood he grew up on the book of satirical and philosophical poems by Sabir "Hophopnameh".

This topic continued a little later, when we met with Dr. Javad Heyat, an Azerbaijani; Iranian cardiologist of world renown in his modest editorial office of the Azerbaijani-language magazine "Varlyg" (Genesis). This fervent scientist asked each of us: where are you from, from what region. Well, we mentioned Baku, Tovuz, Shamakhi… And suddenly a female diplomat screams, "My dear father (Baba), I am an Azerbaijani from Urmia," a male diplomat: "Baba, I am an Azerbaijani from Ardabil." They called themselves emotionally, hitting themselves in the chest. So much for "Bring down to land !".

But when the doctor was informed that Gunduz was Sabir's grandson, he asked again: "Great-grandson?". "No," we reply in chorus, "grandson." He asks again: "From the daughter or from the son?". "From the son," we say the answer. Then Javad jumps up, rushes at Gunduz, hugs him, well, for sure, he will break him. Weeping. Joy. And then a salute of a good Azerbaijani literary speech full of nationalism.

In the editorial office of the magazine "Varlyg"

We came to Tabriz under the impression. But it surprised us, and puzzled us even more. Everyone here defiantly speaks Azerbaijani, moreover, with the sweet speech of our southern mountainous regions. It is also very strange that they managed to preserve the purity of the language in a country where there are no Azerbaijani schools, mass media.

Here we are at the tombstone of the great Azerbaijani-Iranian poet Shahriyar, who wrote in both languages. We found a group of female students here. They were with a teacher. Rauf Arifoglu, in his characteristic revolutionary manner, began to read them nationalist morality. The teacher hurried the girls away. I said to Rauf, "Wait." Stopped the teacher: "Let me talk to the ladies." He looked me over: "Yes, of course." "What do you know about us, about Azerbaijan (Northern)."Shuravi," they replied. Well, they also said that we speak, study only in Russian, and we have nothing national, Islam is banned. I began mentioning: we have schools, universities, newspapers, television in Azerbaijani. The surprise on the faces is growing and questions have gone. The teacher realized that the case smelled of politics, and he yet hurried away the wards. Still, the grain of doubt has already been thrown.

Students at the tombstone of Shakhriyar

In the evening we went to the park. There were songs performed by our singers everywhere. There were a lot of Azerbaijani youth here, and they behaved much more freely than in Tehran.

The next day I went to a small three-story pier. I noticed that this is a kind of space for boys and girls to hang out, a kind of little world of Turkey or something. We got into a conversation with a young salesman. He says that he, like everyone else, goes to Turkey for goods; they are popular here, as is the Turkish way of life. Television is still a serious thing. At that time, the Internet was not yet developed in Iran, however, as well as in our country.

...We are going back to Baku. Our drivers suddenly started speaking in Azerbaijani, although all this time they pretended that they did not know the language. So they listened to our conversations. We parted in a brotherly way. We made a hermit, that is, we thanked him for a good undercover escort.

​Goodbye Tabriz. Photo-remake of the film "White Sun of the Desert"

Already at home, I was invited by the ex-President, leader of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan, Elchibey. He was interested to know my impressions. I told about the trip, meetings, and conclusions. He said that I should speak to the activists of the United Azerbaijan movement and share my sketches with the Iranian ones.

I replied that they would not understand me. However, Elchibey was adamant.

In the assembly hall in the building on Khagani-33, I outlined my vision of the situation in Iran. I stated that there is no organized revolutionary movement in Iran, as it is designated in Baku. Undoubtedly, there is a noticeable national awakening thanks to Turkey and the presence of an independent Republic of Azerbaijan.

"Taking into account the influence of the Turkish information space on Iranian Azerbaijanis, we need to start satellite broadcasting of Azerbaijani TV channels and thus create a unified information space on the platform of which a single language and national thinking will be formed despite state borders. This influence will be stronger than the Turkish one," I said.

Surprisingly, the audience listened to me in silence without any complaints. To all appearance, the audience was guided by their leader, who silently looked at what was happening on the stage.

After some time, Azerbaijani TV channels began switching to satellite broadcasting.

The latest developments in Iran are indicative that the development of the Internet and the country's entry into the world information space have significantly changed Iranian society, and as an important part of it, Azerbaijanis.

There is no doubt that the regime in Iran is on the eve of transformation and this is the desire not only of the lower classes, but the upper classes as well.

The experiment of Iran's rebirth into a religious state, isolated from the outside world by the ideology of Shiism, did not justify itself due to the fact that the ideas of equality, brotherhood, and individual freedom announced during the Islamic Revolution of 1979 did not materialize. Corruption, inequality, violation of human rights and freedoms have become attributes of the state. The disappointment came after only 10 years. The bone religious management system is not able to meet the needs of society and the state. And the hijab crisis is just an excuse: the hijab only showed that Iran cannot avoid change. As was in the Soviet Union, as in any authoritarian state system, the devaluation of ideology creates a moral void, which is usually filled by religion and nationalism. When it comes to the case of Iran, the dominance of religion is losing influence, which means that nationalism - Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, and so on - will fill the void. The dictate of nationalism is no less destructive than the dictate of religion. However, in our case, the history gives reason to believe that the Iranian Turks, along with the Persians, will strive to maintain the manageability of the situation in order to prevent the collapse of the country that they created and cherished for many centuries. Democratization in Iran will certainly open the way to the consolidation of the Turks of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. Siyavush, generated by Iran and Turan, is destined to perform the role predetermined by his birth.