Azerbaijan : Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran

Rating:
Summary: A Turkish Comedian in the Making ?!!!
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: good book about iranian azerbaijan
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Perspective
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: good book about iranian azerbaijan
Review: When I read the book from the beginning I realized that the authors main goal is trying to justify the reasons why Azerbaijan should be an autonomous state.

Always referring to Persia at that time as Iran, and not mention that Azerbaijan has always being for thousands of year's part of Persia. The facts were misleading, because the author is trying to use its nationalistic point of view in order again to justify the separation of Azerbaijan from Iran.
He fails to say that, the Azeri population is well mixed among Iranians. They are very well integrated in society, and they are vital to the function of Iranian society.
He ignores all the facts, and fails to bring the future affects of what will happen if Azerbaijan is separated from Iran.

I have one comment for my non-Iranian friend, dream on, you can leave Iran and all your Azeri friends can go and live in Turkey, but not even a single inch of Iran will be given to you non-Iranian, hate promoting separatists.