On 1 February Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism held the discussion of the book “The Diplomatic Relations Between the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran in the Light of the Documents of the Caucasian Emergency Commission (1919-1920)”.

The initiator of the idea and author of the “Foreword” of the book is Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev, the leader of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Opening the event with an introductory speech the Acting Executive Director of Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism Ravan Hasanov stated that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order on the Declaration of 2018 as “The Year of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan” in the Republic of Azerbaijan. “If we take into consideration the fact that the modern Republic of Azerbaijan is the heir of the People’s Republic, the first democratic republic in the Moslem East, we can clearly see that the above-mentioned Order is of great political importance from the perspective of the maintenance of the historical legacy principle, and its transmission to the forthcoming generations. Along with rising some duties before the appropriate state structures, this decision of the President happened to focus the attention of the Azerbaijani community to this honourable event of our history, and its essence. The event we have gathered here today to discuss with the participation of our respected intelligentsia, historians is also aimed at serving this mission.”

Jeyhun Mammadov, the Senior Advisor of the Department of Interethnic Relations, Multiculturalism and Religious Issues of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan stated in his speech that on 16 May 2017 the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr.Ilham Aliyev signed an Order on “The 100th Jubilee of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan”. In accordance with this Order a plan of actions related to the 100th Jubilee of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan has been developed, and its implementation has been launched. The  speaker also noted that numerous events are to be held within the country and abroad in connection with the 100th Jubilee of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan.

He stated that although some significant work has been carried out to investigate the period of the People’s Republic lately, there are still many actions to be taken in connection with the profound study of the rich political legacy of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan. From this point of view, the book presented to the readers “The Diplomatic Relations Between the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran in the Light of the Documents of the Caucasian Emercency Commission (1919-1920)” (the initiator of the idea and the author of the Foreword as well as scientific editor of the book is Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev) is a decent and valuable contribution to the study and investigation of that rich legacy. The book covers rich historical information related to that period. Also, from the perspectives of the Azerbaijani source and history studies, the book is of special importance, and facilitates the direct contact of the Azerbaijani researchers with the original sources, and one more advantage of the book is the placement of the original Persian texts in the end of the book.

The Director of the Institute of Caucasian Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, member of the Milli Majlis Musa Gasimli stated that although the Republic of Azerbaijan was announced the heir of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan after the restoration of state independence, so far the archival documents have been appraised with some precaution under the impact inherited from the Soviet ideology. For the first time Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev has spoken of the role of the People’s Republic in the development of Azerbaijani statehood referring to offical documents. As is rightly declared by him, if the People’s Republic had not won and there had not been those documents, Azerbaijan could not have been recognized within the USSR by maintaining its own borders, language, and attributes.

The Editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Yeni Azerbaijan”, member of the Milli Majlis Hikmat Babaoghlu pointed out that the documents accumulated here elucidate the Armenian issue as well. The position of the Armenians in the state of Iran, the advantageous conditions created for them in their posts on the state borders and at the customs, the obstacles against the Azerbaijanis are indicated through the real documents, concrete facts. The documents in the book elucidate the blows struck by the Armenians against the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations, their heinous policy in the region of the Caucasus. The book plays the part of a guide for the study of the history of the People’s Republic on scientific bases as well as in the light of modernity and statehood.

The Deputy Chair of the State Committee for Affairs with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan Gunduz Ismayilov said that one of the important issues in the book is the study and discovery of the new pages of the activities of the other leaders of the People’s Republic in the frames of these writings. The publication presents the comments on Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh’s interesting articles as well as new facts about the biographies, activities, struggle of Fatali Khan Khoyski, Adil Khan Ziyadkhanov, Mehdi Bey Hajinski, Hasan Bey Aghayev. All this can facilitate the new approach, re-appraisal. It’s for the first time that Iran’s policy in that period and Tabatabai’s activity have been presented in full content in this book, which provides us with rich materials to study the opposite side’s position in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations.

Further Teymur Karimli, the Academic Secretary of the Department of Humanities at the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Professor Aytan Gahraman, the Councillor of Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism, Ilham Mammadzadeh, the Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Hajar Verdiyeva, the Senior Consultant of the Archives of Political Documents of the Records Management Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Firdovsiyya Ahmadova, the Head of the Department of History at the State Management Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Nazim Mustafayev, the Head of Department at the Presidential library, Professor Anar Isgandarov, the Head of Department in the Faculty of History at Baku State University and Azad Rzayev, the Dean of the Faculty of History at Baku State University pointed out in their speeches, “The book “The Diplomatic Relations Between the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran in the Light of the Documents of the Caucasian Emergency Commission (1919-1920)” indicates the need for the profound study of the history of the People’s Republic and the investigation of many related issues. The Foreword to the book also facilitates the Source studies in Azerbaijan as well as young researchers. The book is the first collection of documents translated from Persian on the history of the relations between the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, and it is the publication whose trasnslation is the most perfect language of diplomacy, which also maintains the Iranian diplomatic style. The book is of great importance from the point of view of the study of not only the relations between the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, but also the political processes taking place in the Caucasian region in that period. Due to the reason that the great majority of the documents were confidential for a long time, the public at large were unaware of them. That is why, the documents accumulated in the book throw light on some dark pages of the political history of the People’s Republic.

It should be noted that the letters, reports and analythical surveys addressed by the Iranian representation operating in Baku under the leadership of Seyid Ziyaaddin Tabatabai on the basis of a special diplomatic mission in that period have found their reflection in the book presented to the readers. The collection, which embraces 98 documents in general, is of serious importance from the perspective of the study of not only the relations between the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, but also of the political processes taking place in the Caucasian region in that period. The book is intended for politicians, historians and mass readership.

Запись The Book “The Diplomatic Relations Between the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran in the Light of the Documents of the Caucasian Emergency Commission (1919-1920)” Discussed впервые появилась Baku International Multiculturalism Centre.