Whole Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Bütöv Azərbaycan) is an irredentist concept of uniting presumed historically Azerbaijani-inhabited territories into the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Map of "Whole Azerbaijan" according to Azerbaijani historian Adalet Tahirzade [az][1]

History edit

The idea of "Whole Azerbaijan" was formulated by Piruz Dilanchi in 1991 [2] 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.[3][4] 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.[5][dubious ] Elchibey claimed that this was a territory of Azerbaijani historical ethnic presence.[6][verification needed] He proposed that Azerbaijan had right to rule it, under a proposed system of governance called "United Azerbaijani Lands" (Birləşmiş Azərbaycan Yurdları).[5] After his death in 2002, it was published postmortem. He opposed the idea of a separate and independent South Azerbaijan.[7][dubious ][verification needed] Azerbaijani historiography portrays the early to mid 1800s as the "ideal" and "normative" situation with Azeri sovereignty over Karabakh and Southern Azerbaijan (Iran), despite that a "united Azerbaijan" was never, in fact, independent but always part of the Persian empires.[8]

Political initiatives edit

The term Whole Azerbaijan continued in political initiatives including the SANLM (CAMAH) [9] and Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party.[citation needed]

Boundaries edit

Although the boundaries of Whole Azerbaijan are not strictly defined, some proponents portray them as encompassing the following areas:[10][11][12][13]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Broers, Laurence (2019). "Questionable Borders". Armenia and Azerbaijan: (Anatomy of a Rivalry). Edinburgh University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4744-5052-2.
  2. ^ "Sayfa Bulunamadı - Ankara Haber Son dakika - Ankara Haberleri Sondakika".
  3. ^ Keskin, Arif (February 6, 2003). "Güney Azerbaycan Milli Demokratik Hareketi Yol Ayrımında". TÜRKSAM (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on February 28, 2012.
  4. ^ "Program of South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement". SANLM. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Rehmoğlu, Arif. "Satranç Tahtasında Azerbaycan ve Farsistan". Avrasya Dosyası, Avrasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi. Ankara.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Böyük Azərbaycan tarixən şimalda Dərbənddən başlayıb, Həmədan mərkəz olmaqla Bəsrə körfəzinədək uzanırdı" Bütöv Azərbaycan yolunda, Əbülfəz Elchibey, Ecdad Yayınları, Ankara, 1998
  7. ^ Bütöv Azərbaycan Haqqında, Yeni Müsavat newspaper, Baku, 2002
  8. ^ Brown, Cameron S. (2004). "Wanting to Have Their Cake and Their Neighbor's Too: Azerbaijani Attitudes towards Karabakh and Iranian Azerbaijan". Middle East Journal. 58 (4): 576–596. ISSN 0026-3141.
  9. ^ "Məramnanmə – CAMAH".
  10. ^ Yoksa, Erhan (October 2020). "Ebulfez Elçibey'inAzerbaycan Özelinde Türk Dünyası Meselelerine Bakışı". Journal of Universal History Studies (in Turkish) (3): 216–237.
  11. ^ "Bütöv Azerbaycan!". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  12. ^ Elchibey, Abulfaz (2004). Bütöv Azärbaycan yolunda. ISBN 9789952403435.
  13. ^ "Elçibey'in "Birleşmiş Azerbaycan" ideolojisi – KAFKASSAM – Kafkasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi". 5 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  14. ^ "Present-day Armenia located in ancient Azerbaijani lands - Ilham Aliyev". News.Az. October 16, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  15. ^ "Aliyev: "The great return begins"". commonspace.eu. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  16. ^ "Azerbaijan seeks "Great Return" of refugees to Armenia | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  17. ^ "Azerbaijan seeks "Great Return" of refugees to Armenia | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  18. ^ "Ilham Aliyev viewed conditions created at administrative building of Western Azerbaijan Community » Official web-site of President of Azerbaijan Republic". president.az. Retrieved 2023-01-27.

External links edit