Thread by @ChrisKhach

Where’s the lie…?

https://twitter.com/joshuakucera/status/1417344437378764833

A lot of Azerbaijanis I speak to get offended by the whole 1918 thing, however it’s more true than false. While the people who were labeled as ethnic “Azerbaijanis” in the 1930s didn’t just appear out of thin air, the idea of an ethnic heritage kinda did…

Today’s Azerbaijanis are a mix of people’s. Those from the Republic of Azerbaijan (historically Albania/Shirvan, Arran/Artsakh&Utik, and Mughan/Paytakaran/Caspiane) are somewhat distinct from those living in Iranian Azerbaijan (historic Media Atropatene/Adharbadagan/Atrpatakan).

Those from the Republic are a mix of the local Caucasian tribes but also of lately 5-7th century Persian settlers and 7-9th century Arab settlers, followed by smaller numbers of Kurdish settlers from the 10-11th century and finally Oghuz Turkic settlers from the 11-13th century.

The area that is the Republic of Azerbaijan remained a largely Persian-speaking zone until the 16th century… the Safavid conquest in 1538 opened the door to massive colonization on the part of Turkic tribes from northern Iran (historic Azerbaijan).

Iranian Azerbaijan, the historic Azerbaijan, was home to the Medes, the local dialect aka Adhari (later Azari and now Azeri) remained dominant for centuries, some say till the early 17th century. This area saw Turkic and later Mongolic tribal settlement in the 11-14th centuries.

Some pockets of this language survive and are still spoken in northwestern Iran (corresponding to ancient Media). They’re referred to as the “Tati dialects of Iran, different from the Tat dialect of the Republic of Azerbaijan which is Persian.

The name Azerbaijan had never been applied to the area north of the Araxes (Araks/Aras) River until 1918. The move by the Pan-Turkist Musavat government in Ganja (later Baku) caused a stir in Tehran where the local authorities appealed to the international community to reject it.

So yea… the Azerbaijanis of today have legitimate claims to the Seljuks and later the Qara Qoyunlu and saw Qoyunlu and even to an extent the Iranian states ruled by the Safavids, Afshars, and Qajars (1501-1925) who were all of full or partial Shia Turkic origin.

Thank you.

Even Iranian Azerbaijan was not a separate entity other than the historic “Media Atropatene” literally Media of Atropates, a local general who sided with Alexander. Azerbaijan remained a toponym, not an ethnonym for millennia.

Only in 1918 did a country “Azerbaijan” appear…

Many Azerbaijanis argue that “Armenia” was a toponym, not an ethnonym. That’s not the cause as Armenia was named for the Armenians and nothing else. The Հայ (Hay) aka Armenians called their land Hay-q and later Hay-a-stan, foreigners largely called it Armenia, except Georgians 😅

*Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu

And yes today’s Armenia was home to a large Azerbaijani population that can trace their heritage to some 400-500 years. Most appeared there as settlers encouraged to move in after the 1604 expulsion of Armenians from the area..

Here’s the map showing the area from which up to some 500,000 Armenians were expelled from in 1604. The area corresponds to the northeast of historic Armenia.

And yes in 1828-1830 Armenians did move to these territories, but they key is moved BACK. Some 40,000 Armenians from northwest Iran (historic southeastern Armenia) and 90,000 Armenians from eastern Turkey (historic northwestern Armenia) moved in here, encouraged by the Russians.

More migrations occurred: some during the 1853–1856 Crimean war, ~70,000 during the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War, ~60,000 during the Hamidian Massacres (1894-1896), and some 400,000 during the Armenian Genocide (1915-1920), 180,000 from this last group perished in 1918-1920…

And then from 1921-1982 some 150,000 migrated (or repatriated) to Soviet Armenia from the Diaspora. The peak was in 1946-1949 when some 90,000 made the move encouraged by post-WWII ideology.

I hope some Azerbaijanis (that I haven’t blocked for raging Armenophobia) can read this and understand the truth of their heritage. We, Armenians, don’t deny your presence on the land we both call home, but please do us all a favor and learn the truth of that history. Please.

And I’ll acknowledge that Azerbaijanis (and their ancestors) fled these lands many times: some in 1828-1829; over 200,000 in 1918-1920 (about 100,000 of 300,000 remained by 1926); 40,000 in 1948-1950 (planned to be 100,000); and finally 160,000-200,000 in 1988-1991.

But don’t ignore the plight of Armenians… from both Turkey and Azerbaijan. Humans have always suffered, learn about others, acknowledge the story of others. Your identity shouldn’t be threatened by this. Knowledge is key. So read up and stay educated.

Unfortunately only 300-500 people of full or partial Azerbaijani descent remain in Armenia; only 29 self-reporting Azerbaijanis according to the 2001 census.

Similarly to Armenians in Azerbaijan, only 659 according to the 1999 census and only 220 according to the 2009 census.

The unofficial number of people of full or partial Armenian descent in Azerbaijan is 3,000-5,000. This makes sense since the pre-1988 Armenian population of Azerbaijan (excluding the 150,000 in Artsakh aka NK) was some 350,000.

Anyways, that’s my rant for tonight. Armenians and Azerbaijanis, please don’t hate me for stating the facts that don’t necessarily follow nationalist historical narratives in either Armenia or Azerbaijan. I’m a historian; I see my role in society as one who can do this truthfully

Note: I’m a Diaspora born Armenian, whose great-grandparents were genocide survivors. I’ve lived in Armenia and Artsakh, but I’m a citizen of neither, I have enlisted and fought for neither. But I’m an Armenian nationalist, I’m proud of my heritage, I’m not a “toxic diasporan.”

So cheers to being proud of who you are, celebrate it, teach others, but none of us are better than others. Learn to love and respect the stories of others. Before judging others ask them about their past. I’m always up to chat about my family history and how it’s shaped me. ☮️