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ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ И АРХЕОЛОГИЯ HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
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УДК 94(479.24)
ON THE REASONS FOR THE DEPORTATION OF AZERBAIJANI TURKS FROM
THE ARMENIA SSR
ASAD QURBANLI
Leading researcher of A. A. Bakikhanov Institute of History of NASA PhD in istory, associate professor
Annotation. In the article, the resettlement of Azerbaijani Turks from the Armenia SSR was studied in the context of Soviet deportation. The author was the first to point out that the tragedies befallen the displaced population were a continuation of the Soviet deportation policy implemented in the USSR in the 30s - 40s of the 20th century. In this regard, the opinions and considerations of historians and linguists in the former Soviet space were reviewed. At the same time, the author based his opinions on the forced resettlement and its bitter consequences for the Azerbaijani population relocated to the Kur-Araz lowland of Azerbaijan, and on the basis of archival materials all these issues were extensively illuminated by him.
Keywords: Deportation, Azerbaijan, Soviet, Armenian, I.V.Stalin
In the early 90s of the 20th century, along with the fall of the Soviet empire, strict Soviet censorship ended its political life. Due to the abolition of censorship and the new political environment created in the society, the stamps "classified" imposed on archival funds were also removed.
A number of topics that have been banned for many years, including the deportation of more than 100.000 Azerbaijani Turks from their historical and ethnic land - the Armenia SSR in 19471953, have become the subject of research by historians and researchers.
Deportation comes from the Latin word "deportatio", which means forced relocation, expulsion, exile [16, p.88]. Deportation or forced relocation of the population is characterized by actions resulting for the people to be driven away in masses from their homes, native lands and country where they had lived for a long time [1, p.231].
In 1917, the Bolsheviks, who overthrew the bourgeois-democratic government, built on the ruins of the tsarist monarchy and seized political power by force of arms, along with such concepts as "socialism" and "communism" added the terms repression and deportation to the political lexicon.
In the process of socialism building in the Soviet Union, not only various groups, organizations, and political parties that resisted the totalitarian regime, but also entire peoples were subjected to merciless persecution, destruction, repression, and deportation. According to approximate figures, in the 30s - 40s of the 20th century, 3.226.340 people were subjected to the deportation policy in the USSR and were forcibly deported from the areas where they lived [12, p.135].
Azerbaijani Turks were among the peoples who were subjected to the Soviet deportation policy in those years. The first deportation was applied against our compatriots who came from South Azerbaijan and settled in North Azerbaijan, and when the passport policy was implemented some of those born in Iranian Azerbaijan were forcibly deported to Iran [3, p.140].
Some sources indicate the forced relocation of Azerbaijani Turks from the vicinity of Tbilisi in 1934-1941 [17, p. 472]. By the decision of the State Defense Committee from July 31, 1944, more than 24.000 Azerbaijanis living in Georgia were exiled to the Central Asian republics together with the Ahiska Turks, as they were called Turks until 1936 [18, p.538].
As it seen, in the 30s - 40s of the 20th century, the Azerbaijani Turks were partially subjected to the Soviet deportation policy. The fact that Azerbaijani Turks were not subjected to a large-scale deportation policy in those years is determined by three main factors; these are the partial deportation
Impact Factor: SJIF 2019 - 5.11
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ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ И АРХЕОЛОГИЯ HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
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of Azerbaijani Turks in the 30s - 40s; secondly, the Azerbaijan SSR played an important role in the Iranian policy of the Soviet Union; the third was related to Turkey not joining the war [2, p. 102].
The official "reason" for the relocation of the Ahiska Turks, Crimean Turks, and other Turkish peoples from their historical territories in the 30-40s of the 20th century, was shown that these peoples were closely related to the Turks of Turkey, and their forced relocation was carried out under the name of "security" of the state borders.
In those years, the forced relocation of Azerbaijanis of the same lineage as the Crimean, Ahiska and other Turkic peoples from the bordering areas of the USSR with Turkey could be carried out...
We agree with the prominent historian L.Hasanova that the main reason why Azerbaijanis were not resettled in these years was the Soviet Union's Iran policy and the important role of the Azerbaij an SSR in this policy [2, pp.97-98]. It was this factor that saved Azerbaijanis from being resettled in these years...
As it seen, in the 30s - 40s of the 20th century, there were no political conditions or reasons for the mass deportation of Azerbaijani Turks. If there was no cause, there could not be any result...
But in the years after the World War II, there were also political conditions for the resettlement of Azerbaijani Turks, and the "reasons" that gave rise to the result...
In the mid-20th century, the next stage of the cleansing of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands in the territory of the Armenia SSR begins. Even the end of the Great Patriotic War, the great role of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Azerbaijanis in the historical victory of the USSR over the fascism [6] could not save them from the resettlement policy of the Soviet state.
The forced resettlement of Azerbaijani Turks from the Armenia SSR to the Azerbaijan SSR in 1947-1953 was not related only to the development of the Kur-Araz lowland, as stated in the government decision, but also due to economic and political reasons.
The decision of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR "On the transfer of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenia SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR" dated December 23, 1947 gave impetus to the ethnic cleansing policy of the Armenians against the aboriginal Turkish (Azerbaijani) population.
Acquaintance with archival materials related to forced resettlement and investigation of the deportation process of Azerbaijanis from Armenia also shows that the deportation process was carried out on the basis of historical-ethnic hostility of Armenians against the Azerbaijani population, and was a continuation of the ethnic cleansing policy in a new form.
The interpretation of the decisions made by the USSR government regarding the resettlement of Azerbaijanis in the political aspect also confirms that the Azerbaijani population was resettled in various forms and methods by the Armenian official and nationalist circles.
In parallel with the resettlement of Azerbaijanis from the Armenia SSR to the Azerbaijan SSR, Armenians living abroad were also transferred to Soviet Armenia.
In the 30s - 40s of the 20th century, the peoples and nations that were subjected to the Soviet deportation policy were not deported without reason. Each of them had specific reasons for their forced displacement from their historical lands. The forced resettlement of those peoples was also explained in official state decisions with certain reasons, even unfounded, and false accusations were made against these peoples.
Although the history of Soviet deportation attracted attention after the 20th Congress of the CPSU (February 1956), its comprehensive study began in the late 1980s. In November 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the declaration "On the recognition of the illegality and criminality of acts of repression against peoples subjected to forced displacement and ensuring their rights" [13].
Very regretful that in the research and declarations on the history of Soviet deportation, the deportation of Azerbaijanis from the Armenia SSR is hardly mentioned. The fact that the deportation
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HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
of Azerbaijanis is not even mentioned in official documents and scientific literature on the history of Soviet deportation should be explained by the fact that this process is not included in this series.
In relation to this problem, there are serious deficiencies in both Azerbaijani and general history literature. Deportation of Azerbaijanis is more concisely studied in our republic, and in the present CIS space, the forced resettlement of Azerbaijanis is studied without taking into account the reasons for the relocation of these peoples subjected to the Soviet deportation policy, the real political essence of the problem is limited. Therefore, emerges the importance and necessity of giving special attention to this problem.
One of the most important issues in the history of Soviet deportation is the reasons that gave rise to it. In the "round table" in the journal "Voprosy Istorii" ("Issues of History"), published in Moscow, the discussions by both historians and linguists about the origin of the deportation policy applied mainly against the Soviet peoples and the reasons for it attract special attention. Thus, they express different opinions about the reasons for the deportations against the Soviet people. Although their opinions about this seem close to the truth and believable, on the whole, there is no single, unanimous opinion among these scholars about the causes of deportation.
T.Y.Krasovitskaya explains the necessity of creating a "homogeneous language environment" in the Soviet Union as the main reason for the deportations at the "round table" held on the topic "Soviet Union in the 1920s" and, as an example, tries to ground that Turkic-speaking peoples were the majority among the deported peoples. [14, pp. 47-51].
V.M.Alpatov in his letter article entitled "K istorii Sovetskogo yazikoznaniya: Marr i Stalin (On the history of Soviet linguistics: Marr and Stalin)" sent to the editors of the journal "Voprosy Istorii", emphasizes that T.Y.Krasovitskaya's opinions are inaccurate, unsubstantiated misconceptions and comes up with an alternative opinion. He considers that I.V.Stalin's sympathy and antipathy towards the peoples living here while he was still in the Caucasus played a certain role in the deportation of these peoples [11, pp.185-188].
Researcher N.F.Bugai states that this opinion of V.M.Alpatov is closer to the truth and suggests to look at this reason among others, and based on the available documents, he advances such an idea that the main reason for the forced relocation of entire peoples in the Soviet Union in the 1930s -1940s was punishment, i.e. this revenge was done primarily against individuals and groups of these peoples during the occupation; secondly, it was used as a preventive measure for the possible treason during the relocation, and all these measures were actually done because the people of those nations could not unite with their compatriots living abroad in the wars that might happen [12, p.136].
Researcher L.Hasanova considers that Soviet deportation has both general and specific reasons. The importance of considering them together should be noted [2, p.94].
For decades, due to known reasons the problem of deportation of Azerbaijani Turks has not been studied. The truths about this tragedy were first reported in a series of articles published by the historian-scientist A.Pashayev based on archival materials, published in the newspapers "Respublika","Veten sesi"(Voice of the Fatherland)"and in the book "Kochurulme" (Resettlement) [8].
Although a lot of scientific, journalistic and memoir literature appeared in the direction of the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks, the research works conducted by A.Pashayev, B.Najafov and L.Hasanova in this field stand out for their importance and scientific character. Although research-oriented works related to this problem in Azerbaijan historiography are important, many dark points related to the investigation of the problem still remain.
In the years after World War II, the circumstances and reasons for the deportation of Azerbaij ani Turks from the Armenia SSR in 1947-1953 have not been revealed, which has created a gap in our historiography in the adequate investigation of the problem. It is for this gap that various ideas and opinions have emerged.
Impact Factor: SJIF 2019 - 5.11
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2021 - 5.81 ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ И АРХЕОЛОГИЯ
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HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
There are different opinions about the reasons for the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks from the Armenia SSR in 1948-1953. A.Pashayev associates the main reason of the forced relocation with the activities of the Armenian lobby, which has taken root in the political circles of the Kremlin [8, p. 4].
B.Najafov suggests that the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks was carried out on the basis of the script of the "Dashnaksutyun" party and its special instructions directly to the Kremlin [7, p. 20].
The prominent historian J.Hasanli relates the reason for the resettlement of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands with the improvement of the social living conditions of the Armenian repatriates who were moved from abroad to the Armenia SSR [4, p.503].
This opinion maintains its dominant position among historians, public men and research experts on this problem.
Habib Rahimoglu believes that the reason for the resettlement of Azerbaijanis is the continuation of the insidious policy implemented by the Soviet government at the state level, and the implementation of Armenian demands [10, p.74].
Armenian historians see the main reason for the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks from Armenia in the joint request addressed to I.V.Stalin by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan M.J.Bagirov and Qr.Harutyunov and they believe that the Azerbaijanis were relocated due to the development of the Kur-Araz lowland [15, pp.57-58].
The most important decisions and orders related to the relocation were kept secret from the public. Central and local newspapers of that time did not leave a single word about it on their pages.
We consider that the resettlement of Azerbaijanis from the Armenia SSR is inextricably linked with the "Armenian issue", which was artificially brought up in the context of Soviet-Turkish relations after World War II, and this idea was put forward by us for the first time [5, pp.85-87 ].
Since the territorial claims of the USSR against the Turkey, the territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan and the mass deportation of the Azerbaijani Turks from their historical and ethnic lands are closely related issues, it is appropriate to study them in a comprehensive manner.
We believe that the study of political events and processes that took place inside and outside the country before the decision of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR "On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenia SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR" dated December 23, 1947, allows revealing the real truths about the political roots and reasons of the deportation against the Turkish population in 1953.
So: 1) The mass deportation of the Turkish population from the Armenia SSR in the years after World War II was a logical continuation of the Soviet deportation policy implemented in the Soviet Union in the 30s - 40s of the 20th century and applied to many peoples; 2) The territorial claims of the USSR against Turkey, Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks from their historical and ethnic lands are closely related issues.
Impact Factor: SJIF 2019 - 5.11
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2021 - 5.81
ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ И АРХЕОЛОГИЯ HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
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