Product Description
Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920 describes the rise of national identity among the Azerbaijanis - the Turkic-speaking Muslims of Russia's borderland with Iran - at the opening of the twentieth century. The principal focus is on the period from the Russian Revolution of 1905, when the Azerbaijanis began to articulate their national aspirations, until the establishment of the Soviet Azerbaijani Republic in 1920. The central theme of the book is the emergence of ideas, and then actions, that would create a new collective identity among the Muslims - a sense of nationality. ... Read more

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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Azerbaijan," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Azerbaijan in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Azerbaijan when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Azerbaijan, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

another view
Books should be judged on the basis of their content, not the ethnicity of their authors. No sensible person would suggest that a book written by a Jew about the Holocaust or Israel is biased for that reason alone. So why does the previous reviewer suggest that Galchian's book is not objective simply on the basis of the author's ethnicity? If he believes the book is not objective there is an obligation, its seems to me, to provide examples. The prior reviewer does not do so. I read the book and think that the author does a good job in documenting the destruction of artifacts and architectural remains by Azerbaijani interests who wish to eradicate an Armenian past. If you disagree, then show how the book is inaccurate, but do not slander the ethnicity of the author.

bias research, another propogandistic book
This book has a title which bears much more potential than this book in reality offers. It is well known how ethnic and historical myths instigated and exacerbated conflicts. This applies also to a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. While an impartial scholar have a plenty of material about the situation with invention of history on both sides, the author of this book - Armenian by origin - stands on one side and gives the bias research. Such propagandist book should not even be advertised on amazon.com ... Read more

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Among the most ancient seats of civilization, the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are today independent states struggling to establish their sovereignty and stability. When it appeared in 1983, Transcaucasia was the first scholarly comparative study of this vital and diverse region, little known to the outside world. This revised and expanded edition adds to the historical essays new work on the economic development, demographic changes, and recent political evolution of the region and explores the current problems facing these southern neighbors of Russia.
The contributors to Transcaucasia, Nationalism, and Social Change use original research and archival work, combined with broad interpretative essays, to give a full picture of the historical evolution of these three states during the ancient, medieval, and modern periods. Part 1 approaches the ancient roots of Caucasian civilization and the impact of Russian rule. Part 2 looks at the rise of nationalist movements, the emergence of revolutionary parties, and the first wave of modernization of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, while Part 3 carries the story into the Soviet period, in which profound social and economic transformations took place. The final section explores the end of Soviet rule and the emergence of independent states.
Contributors are Audrey Alstadt, Barbara A. Anderson, Artin H. Arslanian, Stephen Blank, George A. Bournoutian, Nora Dudwick, Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr., Nina Garsoian, Peter B. Golden, Richard G. Hovannisian, Stephen F. Jones, Gerard J. Libaridian, Anahide Ter Minassian, L. H. Rhinelander, Mark Saroyan, Gertrude E. Schroeder, Brian D. Silver, Ronald Grigor Suny, Tadeusz Swietochowski, and R. W. Thomson.
Ronald Grigor Suny is Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago.
... Read more

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The history of Azerbaijan is a chronology of its domination. Its most recent ruler was the USSR, but Azerbaijan has been within the boundaries of many conquerers from the Medians to Alexander the Great to the Arabs and Turks. Through the long history of foreign occupations, the Azeris have preserved a national identity and they have periodically generated local leaders. With the recent break up of the USSR, Azerbaijan can once again assert itself as an independent nation. Strategically located and of economic interest to other nations, Azerbaijan cannot be ignored. The Azeris are united by their language, Azeris, their religion, Islam, and a common history. However, since the Russian conquest of northern Azerbaijan in the first half of the nineteenth century, they have been divided by politics. Azerbaijan is a divided land; its cultural boundaries stretch beyond the geopolitical ones so that a large portion of what was once Azerbaijan is currently part of Iran, and more Azerbaijanis live within Iran (in Iranian Azerbaijan) than in the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. The contemporary history of Azerbaijan has been a complicated story. There is an on-going conflict with neighboring Armenia which has shaped not only foreign policy and relations, but the domestic politics of the nation. Those politics have been further complicated by Western interest in Azerbaijani off-shore oil deposits. Given its history, Azerbaijan is certainly not the easiest country to describe. This historical dictionary does an excellent job despite the difficulties. It provides entries on persons, institutions and events, with some emphasis on recent periods, but with a view of the earliest history. There are other entries on the important aspects of the economy, society, religion and culture. Also useful are an introduction for context, and a helpful chronology. A select bibliography of works in English and other languages completes the volume. ... Read more

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--History Today

Customer Reviews (4)

One of the best books on Azerbaijan
Tadeusz Swietochowski represents the region and relations between the countries in a very objective way, basing the statements on actual facts and deep understanding of the political situation in the region.

I thought I knew a lot about Azerbaijan, but after reading the book, I realized how many other things were happening in the history of this contry and specifically in its relations with Russia.

Russian and a Divided Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Swietochowski rightly notes, is "the quintessential borderland," being Turkish and Iranian, Sunni and Shi`i, Muslim and Christian, Russian and Middle Eastern, European and Asian.He also notes its other points of interest.Falling under Russian rule from 1804 on, Azerbaijan stands out as the first part of the Middle East brought under the rule of a modern European colonial power. Having been divided into two parts (Russian and Iranian) since 1828, it is the nation that has by far the longest endured the strains of split development.

Writings in English on Azerbaijan are meager and not of the highest quality.Russia and Azerbaijan improves matters by helping to make sense of the country's history, but its account is limited to coverage of the northern (i.e., Russian) part and to a dry, top-down history (for the Russian imperial period the author relies inordinately on literary magazines).

Current interest in Azerbaijan stems from its dramatic return to history as a vital pivot between Russia, Turkey, and Iran; as a newly important oil exporter; and as the Armenians' opponent in a vicious war since 1988.Contemplating the Turkish-Iranian rivalry for influence over independent Azerbaijan, the author foresees Turkey connecting Azeris to the larger world; but Iran, because of its Islamic emphasis and its inclusion of souther Azerbaijan, will have a greater impact on their evolving national identity.

Middle East Quarterly, December 1995

Thorough, objective, and well-researched.
Bravo!Finally a history of this republic that is well-written for thehistorian and the novice alike.Swietochowski is very objective in hisapproach, and systematic in the presentation of his research.I highlyrecommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about the twoAzerbaijans and Russian involvement in the Caucasus.

Substantial addition to understanding of Azerbaijani problem
Reviewed by VICTOR KIRILLOV in International Relations, Volume XIII, No 1, - April 1996 -

The author's expertise on the complicated issues of both Russian and Middle Eastern history, politics, economy, culture and languages is beyond doubt. Indeed, while reading the book one cannot escape the impression that Tadeusz Swietochowski knows a great deal more than he writes about. Out of respect for his readers he carefully and skilfully selects the most salient and convincing facts and events to enable a better understanding of his subject matter which is not widely known to Western, and not only to Western, audiences.
Thus, he correctly points out that the Treaty of Turkmanchai signed on 10 February 1828 between Russia and Iran constituted a momentous event in the history of Transcaucasia, and, in particular, in the history of the Azeri people, that is of the natives of Azerbaijan. For the Azeris, the conquest of their earlier semi-independent Khanates by Russia and Iran, finally provided for in the 1828 Treaty, meant a partition of their land and people that has lasted to this day. `The international aspect of Azerbaijan's division', the author remarks, `created a delicate balance of power in one corner of the turbulent Middle East, a situation resembling that of nineteenth-century East Central Europe, where maintenance of a partitioned Poland ensured lasting peace among Russia, Austro-Hungary and Germany'. Internally, the two Azerbaijans, the Iranian one to the south of the Araxes, and the Russian, later Soviet and now independent Azerbaijan to the north of it, were put on different tracks of historical development. The author's coverage of Russian and later of Soviet policy in Azerbaijan is a splendid piece of research into a subject which has only been lightly covered by Russian and Soviet authors themselves. Given all the dark and bright sides of Russian colonial rule, there is one feature, as Mr Swietochowski rightly assumes, which stands out: Russian and Soviet domination contributed to the Azeris' development into an independent nation with political, cultural and religious aspirations running contrary to the deep-rooted beliefs of their Southern relatives in Iran. The process of historical differentiation has gone so deep that even the most radical nationalists in the last days of the former Soviet Azerbaijan hesitated to advance the slogan of unification of the Azeri nation. The Programme of the People's Front of Azerbaijan, adopted in June 1989, merely provided for the restoration of economic, cultural and social ties between the divided nation and the creation of direct human contacts between relatives and friends.
Pan-Turkic and Muslim sentiments in the former Soviet Azerbaijan certainly exist, and they are scrupulously analysed by the author. Extreme bitterness over the dramatic events in Azerbaijan's conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabagh especially contributed to the rise of anti-Western and anti-Russian feelings in Baku. Yet, even at the peak of the crisis these feelings did not become dominant in Azerbaijani society. This is one of the principal explanations of the seemingly paradoxical fact of the recent reappearance of former Soviet nomenclatura rulers on the political scene and the virtual collapse of the nationalistic People's Front. It also explains, at least partly, the reasons lying behind the relative international stability of the new independent Azerbaijan which has found itself at the very epicentre of Russian-Turkish-Iranian geopolitical rivalry. The author also gives other well-founded reasons for that. Until now neither Iran nor Turkey has expressed any desire to fill the power vacuum in Transcaucasia created by Russia's retreat. Iran is obviously reluctant to incorporate six million well-educated, Turkic-speaking people from the former Soviet Azerbaijan, fearing that this might dramatically change the character of the Iranian state itself. For its part, Turkey fears any distraction from its goal of integration with Europe. Meanwhile, both states as well as Russia restrict themselves to securing strategic and economic advantages in Azerbaijan without incurring undue burdens.
Finally, as the author concludes, the people of Azerbaijan itself, `are apt to take guidance from their ancient political heritage: moderation and compromise'. There, he believes, `extremism locks a fertile ground, and its avoidance has been understood as the essence of the community's survival'.
Based on original sources that include Azerbaijani, Russian, Polish, British and American archives, this elegantly written book by American scholar Tadeusz Swietochowski, who already enjoys a high reputation as a researcher of both Middle Eastern and Russian history and politics, substantially adds to our knowledge of the fascinating problems and developments in this region of the world.
VICTOR KIRILLOV ... Read more

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For half a century, the United States and the Soviet Union were in conflict. But how and where did the Cold War begin? Jamil Hasanli answers these intriguing questions in At the Dawn of the Cold War. He argues that the intergenerational crisis over Iranian Azerbaijan (1945-1946) was the first event that brought the Soviet Union to a confrontation with the United States and Britain after the period of cooperation between them during World War II. Based on top-secret archive materials from Soviet and Azerbaijani archives as well as documents from American, British, and Iranian sources, the book details Iranian Azerbaijan's independence movement, which was backed by the USSR, the Soviet struggle for oil in Iran, and the American and British reactions to these events. These events were the starting point of the longer historical period of unarmed conflict between the Soviets and the West that is now known as the Cold War. This book is a major contribution to our understanding of the Cold War and international politics following WWII. ... Read more

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Azerbaijan has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Rare source of information
I have accessed the item through Cornell University Library. Source of extremely interesting information on wage levels, employee compensation and informal labor in Azerbaijan. Even touches the issues of labor union control and outmigration. Valuable resource for the researches of social relations in Azerbaijan. ... Read more

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Chapters: History of the Name Azerbaijan, March Days, Caucasian Albania, History of Baku, Greater Iran, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Petroleum Industry in Azerbaijan, Battle of Baku, Church of Caucasian Albania, Caspian Expeditions of the Rus, Azeri Waffen Ss Volunteer Formations, Military History of Azerbaijan, Armenian-azerbaijani War, Babak Khorramdin, Shirvan, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Black January, Treaty of Gulistan, 26 Baku Commissars, Arran, Karabakh Khanate, Persian Corridor, Azerbaijan People's Government, Shirvanshah, Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Treaty of Turkmenchay, German Caucasus Expedition, Sahl Smbatean, Movses Kaghankatvatsi, Khanate of Erevan, Vaspurakan, Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, Kingdom of Armenia, Khanate of Nakhichevan, Atabegs of Azerbaijan, 11th Army, Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, Russo-Persian War, Ibrahim Khalil Khan, Elisabethpol Governorate, 2009 Azerbaijan-armenia Negotiations in Munich, Erivan Governorate, Atropates, Saingilo, Caucasian Albanian Alphabet, Armenian-tatar Massacres of 1905-1907, Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj, Baku Governorate, Panah Ali Khan, Azerbaijani National Council, 1920 Ganja Revolt, Trabzon Peace Conference, Kurdistan Uyezd, Ottoman Army of Islam, Shaddadid, Battle of Shamkor, the History of the Country of Albania, Persian Expedition of 1796, Viceroyalty of the Caucasus, Caspians, Ganja Khanate, Daisam, Bergmann Battalion, Coat of Arms of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Ildeniz, Centrocaspian Dictatorship, Paytakaran, Mihranids, Treaty of Kurakchay, Ibrahim I of Shirvan, Historical Regions of Armenia, Battle of Chalagan, Khanates of the Caucasus, Al-Fadhl Ibn Muhammad, Baku Khanate, Shirvan Khanate, Flag of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Quba Khanate, Transcaucasian Commissariat, Akhsitan I Ibn Minuchihr Iii, Javanshir, Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Azerbaijani Legion, Provisional Military Dictatorship o...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=6435796 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Russian History, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1169 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Providing a comprehensive discussion of the people, politics, economics, religion, culture, and social systems of Russia, this work spans the time from the earliest beginnings of the Russian nation (among the ancient Eastern Slavic tribes) to the end of czarist Russia and on through the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. It provides the necessary information for readers to obtain a greater understanding of and appreciation for Russia in all of its many spheres. ... Read more

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Following the dismantling of the old Soviet Union, the new Republics have formed a loose Commonwealth. This book looks at Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and details their history and development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (48)

A Purely Biased Book
It is a shame that Thomas Goltz, a once respected journalist, must cave in to the pressures of the Azerbaijani and Turkish interest groups by writing such frivolous and disingenuous lies. The unabashed bias with which this book is written only exacerbates the problems with how the Nagorno Karabakh people's independence movement is told and framed in the West.

An abysmal adventure in journalism and narrative history
Thomas Goltz claims that he has something most journalists don't: guts. Guts, Goltz insists, is something journalists lack when it comes to presenting controversial facts, often leading to the intentional obfuscation and disinformation that is then widely parroted by readers and politicians alike. Unfortunately, after reading Mr. Goltz's book, it becomes painfully obvious that this journalist is perhaps the worst individual to be dictating the morals and ethics that other journalists should be abiding by.

Goltz prides himself as being one of the most objective journalists to report on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988-1994) that raged on in the South Caucasus between the Armenian populated region Nagorno-Karabakh and its 70 year long tormentor, Azerbaijan, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. And at first glance, it indeed is evident that Goltz likes to bash the Azerbaijani side for corruption, selfishness, and a lack of patriotism during the war years, in an admittedly well-writtennarrative prose.

Goltz's main mission, though not explicitly stated in the book, is to "break" the myth that the Armenians were the victims of the Nagorno-Karbakah war. Presenting a relatively sanitized version of the events, Goltz shows the Armenians as a haughty, disingenuous, advantage-taking group of people, backed by a monolithic diaspora dispersed throughout the globe, that is intent on retaking territory that once belonged to it, at the expense of the poor, beleaguered nation of Azerbaijan. Thus, in interactions with them, the Armenians are presented with damaging adjectives and adverbs that are strewn around the text: an Armenian says something with a disingenuous and evil "smirk", with the guilty pleasure on the announcement of a coup in Baku, with apprehension when supposedly confronted with the "truth" in public. Gone are any mention of the brutal Armenian massacres by the Azerbaijanis in Baku and Sumgait and unsourced Armenian brutality towards Azerbaijanis is overemphasized. In reality, Goltz assembles his own frivolous strawmen and then proceeds to knock them down, from everything to supposedly adequate hospitals in Armenia (at a time when Armenia was perhaps in even worse condition than Azerbaijan) to supposed media manipulation in the United States. Not once does the reader ever encounter an Armenian whom Goltz is sympathetic to, his biases lying squarely with the Azerbaijan camp.

Goltz is correct in respect to journalist having guts. But for a journalist who is known as "Tommy the Turk" for his own pro-Turkish proclivities, Goltz clearly demonstrates that the same ethics that he enjoys to lecture other journalists on is not even respected by him. Taking a side in a debate is often inevitable when journalists enter a warzone and it becomes very difficult at times parting fact from fiction. Goltz may pretend that he is an objective journalist but to the careful observer that he is simply attempting to put a more humane face to Azerbaijan and, in the process, sacrificing his own credibility as an individual who is duty-bound to uphold the truth.

so who is biased here?
It is interesting to see that negative reviews are either from Armenians or Russians (their allies in the war) or anonymous customers, presumably Armenians as well. Well, I am happy and proud to say that I am an Azeri. I could but won't (is this the right place really?) bring as many documented examples of the genocide of Azeris by Armenians (so Hojaly nevere happenned, or it happened but was actually executed by Azeris themselves, or the bodies were actually of Armenians killed by Azeris...?). I suppose each is entitled to their 'objective' opinion on the book and the conflict, but the attemps to rewrite history (including, co-incidentally and rather amuzingly, prior history of the Azeri nation) are not made by the author of this book - they are made by these reviewers who forget one simple fact: that 20% of Azerbaijan's territory is still occupied by Armenia (not the other way around!), including territories other than Nagorny Karabah (which is where my mother and many generations of her predecessors are from), and that over 1 million of Azeris were made refugees from their historic homeland. They use this review board as a platform to launch hateful and degrading remarks about Azerbaijan and the Azeri people, clearly revealing little more than their own blinding and blindingly obvious bias in the matter. Whoever is on their side is right and telling the full truth - the rest are liars, spies, etc

Fascinating
Reading this book while visiting a friend in Azerbaijan, I could not put it down.The incredible history of this small country and the current issues both told in a very entertaining narrative that can't be found anywhere else.

A solid historic book
This is one of the rare historic books reflecting the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict from both sides. It is reach in historic and political facts, and also reflects the author's own eyewitness of the war.

Also in this book, Mr. Goltz makes it clear in the book his unfriendly relations with Azerbaijani government, and criticizes the structure of the gorevnment, and it's adiministration which lead to series of strategic mistakes. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting, a lot of objective information, lack of analysis
This is an interesting book to read for those who are not avare that there is a big part of Azerbaijan located in Iran and that this part of the country has its own unique adn rich culture. Unfortunately, not very well preserved due to the iranian politics that is geard towards discrimination and ingnorance of the ethnicity. It is very sad to realize that the official government sources do not even report to international agencies like CIS UNDP and others the EXISTENCE of such an enthnicity in the country, referring to them as "turks". Therefore, I am glad to see thourough explanations in this book.

However, the issue of separation from Iran I find very controversial. I think, this is up to the people in Southern Azerbaijan to deside whether they want to separate or not. Separation of Nothern Azerbaijan from Former USSR was only for the good of economical development of the country and preserving it's ethnicity. WIll the same happen if Southern Azerbaijan separates? The book fails to bring up and analyze the potential consequences.

Highly recommended
I have been amazed by those tree comments above. As a proud Iranian-Azeri I found this book very enlightening about a history that because of some political reasons is steal under shadow. I think that Mr. Atabaki intension in his book is to mention some historical fact rather then an attempt for separation of Azerbaijan from its mother-land, Iran. My personal impression from whole book was that, at the same time that Mr. Atabaki tried to write an academically type book but some times in the book he was hunted by his feelings about Iran specially when he talks about "naïve Nakhjavanin request for union with Iran from Russia.

Interesting Perspective
This book describes a very interesting part of Azerbaijan.Under the Shah, there were a lot of ethnic struggles, and the Turks were considered a minority.They spoke a different language, practiced a different branch of Islam, and had different customs.The Turkish influence is strong in this part of the country.Even many food dishes are different.

It's sad that these minorites have been oppressed in Iran.Khomeini sent troops to suppress them.The Shah held them down.Unfortunately, that is the nature of rulers in that part of the world.

A Turkish Comedian in the Making ?!!!
I began reading this book with great interest simply because I wanted to somehow convince myself that there was an argument of the sorts for Azerbaijan's future autonomy within Iran. Past the first chapter and I began to realize that I was reading the works of a highly talented individual...perhaps not so talented as an author or a historian but certainly a great comedian.

The truth of the matter is that the Turks were a group of central Asian tribes (the Oghuz, Selcuks, Osmans and Suleymans etc.) who migrated to our part of the world just before the Mogul invasion (11th century AD).

It is a historical fact that no one spoke Turkish in the Azerbaijan area before the migration of the Turkish tribes into the region.

Once they came over, most of these Turkish tribesmen ended up settling in an area which makes up the present day Turkey (ex Byzantine / Greek / Armenian areas) and the Iranian Azerbaijani territorial area.

Another historical fact is that during the preceding period, Azerbaijan was not only entirely Persian (linguistically and ethnically) but also the birth place of prophet Zartosht who happened to be the principal founder and originator of everything we call Persian today.

What followed was that one group of these Turkish new comers (the Selcuk tribe) soon ceased power from the Baghdad-based Arab Abbasids Caliphs and set-up a dynasty they called the Selcukis. Under their protection, the remaining Turkish tribes rapidly reinforced their control of the settled areas and literally carried out what we would today call an ethnic cleansing of the entire region which not only affected the Iranian Azerbaijan but also the neighboring Armenia, through Anatolia and over the following centuries (during the Ottoman rule), well into Europe (Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece etc.).Hence they forcefully and opportunistically changed their status from nomadic visitors to occupiers and then to supposed owners of these lands.

In Iran, over the following centuries, whilst the settled Turks influenced the spoken language in Iranian Azerbaijan, but they in turn got heavily influenced by the significantly more historical and more sophisticated Persian traditions and customs. It is also a fact that during the Iranian Saffavid and the Qajar dynasties (both of which were of Azeri origin), the rulers went out of their way to keep the influence of Ottoman Turks out of Iran. This was so much so that during the Saffavid dynasty, they literally reinvented a new branch of Islam (the Shia) just to distinguish and reclassify themselves from the next door Ottoman Turks.

Today, the Iranian society is so well integrated that the Fars (Persian) and Azeris are essentially one large and heavily inter-married and merged family of people. My own family is around 30% Azeri, 40% Fars and 30% Kurdish. Most of my older family members speak fluent Azeri, Kurdish and Persian. The situation is almost identical in my wife's family (though they have a greater Fars proportion) and across much of the Iran.
My conclusion to this end is that Mr. Atabaki's proposition of a separate Azeri state is just a wishful thinking. When following the second world war the Russians tried to setup an independent Iranian Azerbaijan with a later agenda for swallowing it up into their vast communist empire, it all failed miserably and our Azerbaijan returned into the Iranian fold not because of Iran's military, economic or political muscle but because Iranian Azeri population felt a greater affinity with the rest of Iran than with the Russian Communists or their Turkish Agent Provocateurs (95% of whom were terminated by the local Azeris as soon as the Russian Army had left and well before the Iranian central government troops had even arrived on the scene).

Today, Mr. Atabaki and associates are motivated and financed by the Turkish government which is still naively and nostalgically dreaming of a greater Turkey and the eventual possibility of getting their hands on the Baku Oil.

To that end, Atabaki, Chehregani and their Anatolian associates are desperately trying to use every crippled bit of propaganda or grossly stretched out mis-descriptions at their disposal to make a case for their dream of a greater Turkish homeland. It is this bias that makes this book, as childish and as inaccurate as it clearly is.

My advice for Mr. Atabaki's Anatolian friends is a simple one; the current regime in Iran is not going to last long, once it is gone, the Iranian people will not only establish a strong democracy in Iran but will also actively support all other oppressed people in the region. This will be particularly so in the case of occupied Kurdish areas in Turkey (or the mountain Turks as you call them). Not permitted to speak their own language! Not permitted to give Kurdish names to their own children! Or to celebrate Norowz!They certainly deserve our support and they will get it!It is amazing how much bang you can get with a few billion dollars of spare cash!

good book about iranian azerbaijan
If anyone is looking for a good source of information about Iranian Azerbaijan, Touraj Atabaki is, perhaps, the best authors and researcher on the matter in questions.

Two times in the history of XX century Azerbaijani population upraised against Iran. A last attempt after II World War was subdued because of the Great Game of world powers. Stalin of USSR, initially supported the idea of expanding USSR by including Iranian Azerbaijan but later he gave up - united Azerbaijan would be very strong republic. Moreover, it was a matter of trading between USSR, UK and US about post-war distribution of lands.

I found the previous review is blindly nationalistic.
Yes, to some extent I would agree with previous reviewer that part of Azeri population is well integrated in Iranian society, many Azeris hold high positions in the government. But problems about the use of their native language and many others still exist. Besides, it is under many questions marks whether Azerbaijan was always a part of Iran. In some period of history Iran was ruled by Turks, just like under Ismail Hatai of Sefevid in 16 century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Another Armenian way of lying
No, this book is not pro-armenian. It is Armenian. And it says everything. The armenian author fails to present the true facts about the way armenians were welcomed and treated well by Azerbaijanians, and how the azerbaijanian families actualy protected armenians during the conflict. There are still a lot of armenians who live in Azerbaijan peacefully, and no one toches them.

The well-known fact is, that Armenian government itself did not accept or provide any support to thousands of armenians who left Azerbaijan because they were afraid of consequances of Nagono-Karabakh policy on Armenia. As a result, armenians had to flee to other countries, including those that have turkic origin (Turkmenistan, Kazekhstan, Turkey). The numbers of armenian refugees are clearly stated in the official government sources for this countries. Instead of being thankful to these countries for accepting armenian refugees and providing financial and social support, armenian diaspora tries to convince the world that turks were trying to destroy armenian nation. If so, why would they accept this enourmous number of armenians in their land, and support them in such a hospitable way???

This was an organized genocide
The genocide of Armenians in Sumgait city was well organized by Azerbaijani government which was part of former Soviet Union at that time. Here is the statement by European Parliament in July, year 1988:

"Considering, that Nagorno Karabagh was historically a part of Armenia, that currently over 80% of its population are Armenians, that this region was annexed by Azerbaijan in 1923 and that in February 1988 Armenians suffered from a massacre in the Azeri city of Sumgait, Considering that aggravation of political situation, having caused mass killings of Armenians in Sumgait and atrocities in Baku, is dangerous for Armenians living in Azerbaijan, Condemns brutality and pressure used against Armenian protesters in Azerbaijan."

Jim Dixon, PhD:It was before Kosovo...
The Sumgait Tragedy is a compilation of personal testimonies of Armenians forced by violence to flee their homes in Azerbaijan, confronts us with the reality of loss and suffering behind the labels and statistics. An exampleof "history from below," the volume focuses on the ideas andbehavior of ordinary people, and on the impact historical events andideologies have on their daily lives. This collection is the most importantdocument on these events yet published in English. The importance ofSumgait Tragedy becomes more acute after the genocidal events in Kosovo in1999.

Interviewed by an independent journalist Samvel Shahmuratian inthe months immediately following the events described how from February 27to 29 1988 Azerbaijani marauding mobs in Sumgait, a city of 250,000 nearBaku, destroyed hundreds of Armenian apartments and shops, burned andsmashed dozens of cars, and beat, burned, stabbed, and raped to deathArmenian men, women and children.

The pogroms were a symptom of adeveloping but still insecure Azerbaijani nationalism, which ischaracterized by increasing intolerance for the claims of ethnic minoritiesliving in the republic. "Having lived in the city for 38 years,"one witness recalls, "I had somehow imperceptibly become accustomed tothe discrimination, as though it were a natural state of affairs."Azerbaijani hostility toward the Armenian population, which is genericallyclose to anti-Semitism in its form and is profoundly racist, intensified asthe movement escalated among the Armenian population of theNagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region in Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Theincreasing tension in Sumgait culminated in a series of rallies in thecenter of the city, during which speakers asserted the Karabagh was andwould remain Azerbaijani. The rallies culminated in a demand to driveArmenians off Azerbaijani soil, kill and rape them. On the 27th and 28th,the rallies dissolved into the mass violence described in the book.

Theconfusion and doubt that still exist over the number of victims raise thequestion of whether the local and investigatory authorities deliberatelyminimized the extent of the pogrom. Dr. Nora Dudwick, who was in Yerevanand then in Baku during this period, recall how on February 27 when ralliesin Sumgait had already turned into violence, "Vremya," the Moscowevening news program, broadcasted interviews with Armenian and Azerbaijaniworkers attesting to the "perfect friendship" between theirpeoples. Over the next few days, alarming rumors spread that 10 Armeniansand almost as many soldiers had been killed in Sumgait. When the true scaleof the violence became known in Armenia, the official death count of 32(including 26 Armenians) met with complete incredulity, and rumors spreadthat casualties are actually in the hundreds. These rumors were laterconfirmed.

The KGB investigators and newspaper "Pravda," thenotorious organ of the USSR Communist Party, chose to ignore the backgroundof the events, deliberately misrepresenting and trivializing the events, aswell as the pattern of organization and provocation revealed in theattacks, treating them instead as a group of "isolated" crimes.The brave effort of Shahmuratian to compile more accurate casualty figuresis no mere numbers game. Rather, it is part of an intense effort toestablish the true scope of events, and to ascertain the extent to whichthe pogroms, which began in Sumgait and eventually spread throughoutAzerbaijan, were deliberately orchestrated in Baku and Moscow to drive theArmenians from Azerbaijan, and crush the movement for freedom andself-determination in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The compilation of this and otherhistorical material on the conflict with Azerbaijan reflects adetermination among Armenians to prevent the reality of the present frombeing denied, distorted or trivialized in future. The 1915 Genocide ofArmenians in the Ottoman Empire once seemed a self-evident and indisputablefact, and was described as such on the front pages of the internationalpress. The subsequent minimization of those events by Turkish"scholars" has taught the Armenian people the importance ofdocumenting and preserving the history so that such a denial cannot happenagain.

Full of incorrect information. Very biased.
Events are misrepresented, history is distorted, truth is hidden in this book. Extremly biased, one-sided. The author "forgot" the fact that two ethnic Armenians (Grigorian and Oganov) were arrested in Sumgait,Azerbaijan for killing at least 6 other Armenians. No word about massacresof Azerbaijanis in Armenia that actually started the whole conflict. ... Read more