Azerbaijani deputy Fazil Mustafa
called the country’s law enforcement agencies to take a Talysh human rights
defender “under strict control,” because he had dared to criticize him for
pretensions on originally Talysh lands. Mustafa particularly claimed that
“Azerbaijani Turks are the owners of that land,” and that the Talysh, Lezgin,
and Kurdish people should “operate there together with the Turks.”
Redirecting
the response to his words towards “fight against separatism,” the MP sets law
enforcement agencies on the Talyshes who struggle for their rights. For
example, the Azerbaijani MP Fazil Mustafa told Bizim Yol website that the
circulation of separatist moods on social media is not accidental and is a
result of a “spontaneous action.”
Particularly
accusing the Talysh intelligentsia of “sympathy for separatism,” “praises to
Andranik,” and “sympathy for PKK,” Mustafa calls the law enforcement agencies
of Azerbaijan “to pay a serious attention” not only to specific people, but
also to those, who spread Talyshistan TV channel’s programs on social media.
“When we talk
about territorial integrity, they show a disrespectful attitude towards us,”
Mustafa resents adding that “because of that, law enforcement agencies should
take under serious control not only the Talysh intelligentsia, but also those,
who spread programs on social media.”
Azerbaijani
expert Ilham Ismail also talked about Talyshistan TV channel. Ismail
stated that “it broadcasts programs against Azerbaijan voicing thoughts
directed towards the resentment among small nations” and “accused” Russia of
creating the channel together with the Armenians in order to “put pressure on
Azerbaijan by making use of Talysh separatism.”
APA news
agency reports that the chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office, Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur
Pashazadeh, also made anti-Talysh statements, declaring that he is
“troubled by Fahraddin Abbasadze’s participation in Armenian events.” According
to the report, Pashazadeh noted that Alikram Gummatov had once offered him to
become the sheikh of Lankaran, to which he answered the following, “you are
crazy, I am the sheikh of the entire Caucasus.” As the chairman of the
Caucasian Muslims Office said, “such issues” should be covered in religious
sermons and “we should say our word to those, who carry out agitation against
us.”
The Talysh are
Iranian-speaking indigenous people of the region, who follow Shia Islam.
Officially, there are 87 thousand Talysh people in Azerbaijan. The real number
of the Talysh population is considerably higher – 400. However, this figure is
kept secret for a further assimilation of the nation with the Turks of
Azerbaijan.
In 1993,
colonel Alikram Gummatov proclaimed the Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic
consisting of 7 Azerbaijani regions inhabited by the Talyshes. However,
Azerbaijani authorities did not recognize its autonomy, and its leaders were
prosecuted: Gummatov was imprisoned and sentenced to death. Later, he was
deported from the country under the pressure of the Council of Europe and
deprived of citizenship.
The
editor-in-chief of the only Talysh newspaper in Azerbaijan Tolishi-Sado Hilal
Mammadov was arrested by Azerbaijani police on June 21, 2012. He was accused of
drug possession, while later the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan
accused him of state treason and espionage. On September 27, 2013, Azerbaijani
court found him guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 5 years
imprisonment. Among other things, Mammadov is famous for his video placed on
the internet “Who the hell are you? “. In summer of 2012, in front of the
Azerbaijani embassy to Moscow, 3 protest actions took place demanding to stop
ethnocide and release Mammadov. Famous international human rights organizations
considered him a political prisoner and “a prisoner of conscience.”
On March 14,
2016, Mammadov was pardoned and released among other political prisoners of
Azerbaijan
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