Whole Azerbaijan
Whole Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Bütöv Azərbaycan) is an irredentist concept of uniting Azerbaijani-inhabited territories into Azerbaijan.
History
The idea of "Whole Azerbaijan" was formulated by Piruz Dilanchi in 1991 [1] and defined in 1992 by Azerbaijani president Abulfaz Elchibey (s. 1992-93). In 1991, Dilanchi founded the SANLM nationalist organization and in 1997 Elchibey founded the "Whole Azerbaijan Union" (Bütöv Azərbaycan Birliyi) organization.[2][3] Elchibey published his book on the idea, Bütöv Azərbaycan yolunda, in Turkey in 1998. It claimed that the borders of Azerbaijan should extend from Derbent to the Persian Gulf.[4] Elchibey claimed that this was a territory of Azerbaijani historical ethnic presence.[5] He proposed that Azerbaijan had right to rule it, under a proposed system of governance called "United Azerbaijani Lands" (Birləşmiş Azərbaycan Yurdları).[4] After his death in 2002, it was published postmortem. He opposed the idea of a separate and independent South Azerbaijan.[6]
Political initiatives
The term Whole Azerbaijan continued in political initiatives including the SANLM (CAMAH) [7] and Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party.
Boundaries
Although the boundaries of Whole Azerbaijan are not strictly defined, some proponents portray them as encompassing the following areas[8]
- «Southern Azerbaijan» (Cənubi Azərbaycan) -
the provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan - «Western Azerbaijan» (Qərbi Azərbaycan) -
majority of the territory of the Republic of Armenia - Derbent (Dərbənd) -
Derbent district, Republic of Dagestan - Borchali (Borçalı) -
Part of the Kvemo Kartli province of Georgia
References
- https://www.haberankara.com/yazarlar/aziz-dolu-atabey/piruz-dilenci-guney-azerbaycan-in-ozgurluk-atesini-harlayan-adam/710/
- Keskin, Arif (February 6, 2003). "Güney Azerbaycan Milli Demokratik Hareketi Yol Ayrımında". TÜRKSAM (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on February 28, 2012.
- "Program of South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement". SANLM. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
- Rehmoğlu, Arif. "Satranç Tahtasında Azerbaycan ve Farsistan". Avrasya Dosyası, Avrasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi. Ankara.
- "Böyük Azərbaycan tarixən şimalda Dərbənddən başlayıb, Həmədan mərkəz olmaqla Bəsrə körfəzinədək uzanırdı" Bütöv Azərbaycan yolunda, Əbülfəz Elchibey, Ecdad Yayınları, Ankara, 1998
- Bütöv Azərbaycan Haqqında, Yeni Müsavat newspaper, Baku, 2002
- http://www.camah.org/?page_id=35
- Bütöv Azərbaycan Haritası
External links
- "Diaspora agrees to reintegrate Iranian Azerbaijan in Republic of Azerbaijan". abc.az. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.