Tweet
PARLIAMENTARIANS CONSIDER RENAMING AZERBAIJAN
Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
February 8, 2012
The Azerbaijani Press Agency (APA) reports that at the first plenary
session of parliament, the chairman of the pro-government Azerbaijan
Popular Front Party (BAXCP), Gudrat Hasanguliyev, proposed renaming
the country to the "Republic of Northern Azerbaijan". His proposal
was backed by Fazail Aghamali, chairman of another parliamentary
pro-government party, Motherland, as well as Gudrat Gasanguliyev,
a parliamentary deputy from the minority Azerbaijan National Unity
Party, and deputies from the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP).
Siyavush Novruzov, the deputy executive secretary of YAP said, "It
is quite a significant issue. The world is full of examples, such as
North Korea, South Korea, Northern and Southern Cyprus." Gasanguliyev
justified the motion by saying that "two-thirds of Azerbaijani
territories are currently included into the composition of the
modern-day Iran, therefore we need to rename the Republic of
Azerbaijan into the Republic of Northern Azerbaijan." Some deputies
went further, proposing a referendum on the issue and amending Article
11 of the Azerbaijani Constitution to read that the entity consists
of Northern, Southern and Western Azerbaijan. They did not explain
if Western Azerbaijan would not be included in the current borders
of the Republic. They also suggested considering joining sanctions
against Iran.
Significance:There is a small likelihood that parliament will actually
change the name of the country or indeed hold a referendum. Should
this happen, it will be a direct challenge to Iran's territorial
integrity and will escalate tensions with Iran even further. The fact
that there is a parliamentary-level debate in Azerbaijan is indicative
of one of the key problems in relations between the two counties.
Azerbaijan is mainly a Shi'a Muslim country but is ethnically of
Turkic extraction, hence its very close relations with mainly Sunni
Turkey. Despite sharing religious similarities with Iran, the two
countries have had strained relations since Azerbaijan gained
independence in 1991, partially because of Baku's territorial
ambitions. The country was formed at the beginning of the 20th
century and its people gained the name Azerbaijanis at the same time,
losing the previous label of Caucasian Tatars. Azerbaijan is the name
of a region in northern Iran which has around 25 million population
including Turkmens and other ethnic groups, some of whom have affinity
with the modern-day Azerbaijani people, but in limited numbers. For
Iran this is a geographic name which they believe Azerbaijan wants
to exploit for political reasons, depending on the geopolitical
situation. One such situation emerged in the 1940s. Then part of
the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin had planned expansion into Iran and
Soviet troops occupied northern Iran in 1941, going on to create a very
short-lived Soviet republic there. Interestingly, even then the region
was not fully under Soviet Azerbaijani control as it was shared by
Soviet Armenia. The region returned to Iranian control after the war.
The expansionist discourse in Azerbaijani parliament is only likely
to unnerve Tehran.
From: Baghdasarian
Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
February 8, 2012
The Azerbaijani Press Agency (APA) reports that at the first plenary
session of parliament, the chairman of the pro-government Azerbaijan
Popular Front Party (BAXCP), Gudrat Hasanguliyev, proposed renaming
the country to the "Republic of Northern Azerbaijan". His proposal
was backed by Fazail Aghamali, chairman of another parliamentary
pro-government party, Motherland, as well as Gudrat Gasanguliyev,
a parliamentary deputy from the minority Azerbaijan National Unity
Party, and deputies from the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP).
Siyavush Novruzov, the deputy executive secretary of YAP said, "It
is quite a significant issue. The world is full of examples, such as
North Korea, South Korea, Northern and Southern Cyprus." Gasanguliyev
justified the motion by saying that "two-thirds of Azerbaijani
territories are currently included into the composition of the
modern-day Iran, therefore we need to rename the Republic of
Azerbaijan into the Republic of Northern Azerbaijan." Some deputies
went further, proposing a referendum on the issue and amending Article
11 of the Azerbaijani Constitution to read that the entity consists
of Northern, Southern and Western Azerbaijan. They did not explain
if Western Azerbaijan would not be included in the current borders
of the Republic. They also suggested considering joining sanctions
against Iran.
Significance:There is a small likelihood that parliament will actually
change the name of the country or indeed hold a referendum. Should
this happen, it will be a direct challenge to Iran's territorial
integrity and will escalate tensions with Iran even further. The fact
that there is a parliamentary-level debate in Azerbaijan is indicative
of one of the key problems in relations between the two counties.
Azerbaijan is mainly a Shi'a Muslim country but is ethnically of
Turkic extraction, hence its very close relations with mainly Sunni
Turkey. Despite sharing religious similarities with Iran, the two
countries have had strained relations since Azerbaijan gained
independence in 1991, partially because of Baku's territorial
ambitions. The country was formed at the beginning of the 20th
century and its people gained the name Azerbaijanis at the same time,
losing the previous label of Caucasian Tatars. Azerbaijan is the name
of a region in northern Iran which has around 25 million population
including Turkmens and other ethnic groups, some of whom have affinity
with the modern-day Azerbaijani people, but in limited numbers. For
Iran this is a geographic name which they believe Azerbaijan wants
to exploit for political reasons, depending on the geopolitical
situation. One such situation emerged in the 1940s. Then part of
the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin had planned expansion into Iran and
Soviet troops occupied northern Iran in 1941, going on to create a very
short-lived Soviet republic there. Interestingly, even then the region
was not fully under Soviet Azerbaijani control as it was shared by
Soviet Armenia. The region returned to Iranian control after the war.
The expansionist discourse in Azerbaijani parliament is only likely
to unnerve Tehran.
From: Baghdasarian