Iran and South Azerbaijan – The Azeri Search for National Integrity and Cultural Identity. Part II
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
March 21, 2009
As more than 25 millions of Azeris struggle today under the criminal and inhuman regime of the Ayatollahs, the world community bears the responsibility to listen to them and actively contribute to their liberation.
I republished, amongst others, an Appeal to save the life of an Azeri Human Rights activist, Mr. Yunis Aghayan, and an ecological insightful concerning the great Lake Urumiyeh of South Azerbaijan that has been totally disregarded by the lunatic Ayatollahs. I also republished two appeals and petitions for the declaration of the Azeri language as official language in Iran, and first language for the primary and secondary education for all those demanding so. Focusing on the Azeri search for national integrity and cultural identity, I republished an essay composed by one of South Azerbaijan´s foremost scholars, Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh. In the present article, I complete the republication of another earlier contribution of Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh. In forthcoming articles I will expand further on this subject of seminal importance.
The Multiple Identities of Azerbaijan
By Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh
http://www.en.baybak.com/the-multiple-identities-of-azerbaijan-by-dr-alireza-asgharzadeh.azr
The Azeri Diaspora
The Azeri Diaspora is a comparatively new phenomenon, rooted in a roughly three decades of history of migration. It owes its existence to two major events that took place in the recent history of the region: first, the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution in Iran; second, the demise of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1991. The Iranian revolution of 1978-79 was a major socio-political upheaval that affected all aspects of life in the country. In the periods during and after the Islamic Revolution, waves of mass migrations took place partly because of violations of human rights in Iran, partly as a result of the 8-year war with Iraq, and partly due to the worldwide impact of globalization along with a whole set of other economic and developmental factors.29 This migratory trend still continues, albeit on a much smaller scale.
According to the latest statistics, there are over five million Iranian immigrants in Europe and North America.30 And the current population of Iran totals to over seventy million. Given the fact that the Azeris comprise over thirty million of Iran´s total population, we can safely argue that about two million of the five million Iranian immigrants are Azeris. Thus, the main segment of an Azeri Diaspora, at least in terms of numbers and figures, come not from the north, but from Iran and the south Azerbaijan. In the case of the Azerbaijan Republic, the demise of the Soviet Union and the independence of northern Azerbaijan significantly contributed to the formation of an Azeri Diaspora. With the coming of independence, the iron curtain was lifted and the hitherto closed Azerbaijani society was exposed to the outside world in an unprecedented way. As a result, many Azeris were, for the first time, accorded the opportunity to travel, to migrate and settle down in a foreign country, for a variety of economic, educational, and sociopolitical reasons.
The coming of independence was also concomitant with the breakout of an ugly war between Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia over the Azeri enclave of Nagorno-Qarabagh. As always, millions of innocent civilians constituted the first casualties of the war. The Azerbaijani Republic produced over one million displaced persons. In effect, one out of every seven Azerbaijani citizen became a homeless refugee. Obviously, over and above all else, the refugees needed food on their plates, a roof over their heads and a place to rest. So they migrated– at least the ones who could afford it. The demon of war brought with it a large scale destruction, followed by a grave sense of uncertainty, hopelessness and restlessness. As such, even many of those who were not directly affected by the war began to migrate. A new wave of Azeri (mass) migration took place during the first five years of the independence, to be followed by the future small scale migrations.
Added to this new wave of migration was the status of hundreds of thousands of those Azeris who, as citizens of the former Soviet Union, were living in such places as Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and so forth. After the fall of the Soviet Union, these Azeris came to find themselves as immigrants living in an independent (alien) country–in someone else´s country, that is. So, they too became Azeri immigrants living in abroad. In essence, they are, and will continue to be, important components of the Azerbaijani Diaspora. And so will be the hundreds of thousands, by some estimates over two millions, of Azeris living in the Republic of Turkey.
The experience of diasporic life shows that in diaspora, the Iranian Azeris have come into close contact with the Azeris from the Republic of Azerbaijan. For instance, one could make mention of various Azerbaijani community centers, organizations, groups, media outlets, particularly journals, magazines, and internet discussion groups in which there are indications of close collaborations between the northern and southern Azeris. The increasing rate of intermarriages, the noticeably high rate of travels and visits from Diaspora to Baku, from Baku to Tabriz and vice versa could be cited as other indicators of tightening relationships between the two sides. Needless to say, all these developments have implications in terms of collective, national, and personal identification processes. In what follows, I will outline some of these implications and discuss how they influence the production and maintenance of a sense of unified Azerbaijani identity.
Identity Pathways
The term identity acquires a complex character when applied to persons, groups, and communities. It can allude to someone´s individual identity in a personal sense, in the form of sexual/gendered identity for example; just as it may indicate a person´s ethnic, national, cultural, or religious identity in a collective sense. No matter how one may define it, the term ´identity´ is generally used to mark the way individuals or groups define themselves within their environment at different periods of time in the context of their lived realities. For the most part, identities are context-bound, spatio-temporally defined personal or collective categories characterized by non-fixed, non-essential, shifting and changing attributes. The processes of identity formation are often intertwined in a complex web of personal, collective, national, regional and local identities and the intersections of these with such social markers as class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, etc. Perhaps that is why it is not so easy to limit our choices to any exclusive designation when it comes to choosing an identity category. From a democratic viewpoint, it would make perfect sense if individuals were free to self-identify. However, while we all have strong tendencies towards self-definition and self-expression, we know very well that there are always powerful obstacles to the exercise of one´s freedom to self-identify. Sometimes these obstacles are socially, politically and culturally conditioned; and sometimes they are erected by powerful individuals and groups either from within or outside one´s community who assign themselves the right to designate the ´correct and authentic´ identity for us.
In spite of all this, the multiple and shifting nature of identities are increasingly becoming manifest in contemporary environments. More and more we are realizing that our identities can no longer be limited to any single designation: man, woman, Muslim, Jew, Christian, etc. This fluid and shifting nature of identities are much more pronounced in diasporic communities where individuals assume multiple identities on a daily basis. For instance, a second generation individual of Mexican origin living in America has a variety of choices to identify herself: Mexican, Mexican American, Latina, Chicana, and so forth. Similar to the case of Hispanic populations in America, Azerbaijanis too have begun to realize the shifting nature of their multiple identities. In terms of their ethnic identity, historically they have been referred to as Azeris (ancient Assyrian and Arabic sources); Azeri-Turks (Turkish sources), and Turks (Persian sources). In time, some have stuck to Azeri, some to Azeri-Turk, and some to ´Turk.´ In recent years, more designations have emerged due to the changing geopolitical situation in the region. As a result, more terms have been added to an already inflated pool of labels: Iranian-Turk, Azerbaijani-Turk, North-Azerbaijani-Turk, South-Azerbaijani-Turk, and Azerbaijani.
On the one hand, the existence of a variety of identity categories signals the signs and symptoms of living in a postcolonial and postmodern condition. On the other hand, it poses a major challenge to individuals of Azerbaijani heritage in articulating a common identity which could be concurrently applicable to the Azeri people on both sides of the Araz River as well as in Azeri Diaspora. Which term, which label, what designation is most capable of defining such an inclusive identity in a clearly unambiguous fashion, particularly within a constantly globalizing and changing world? Is it ´Azeri/Azerbaijani´ or is it ´Turk?´ Or is it other combinations? Can all of these be used as different manifestations of the same identity or is there a need to choose a single one?
Evidently, the exercise of ´free choice´ in using identity categories in the context of Azerbaijan has encountered various practical, cultural and linguistic difficulties which necessitate the significance of using a common identity category by all Azerbaijanis. In the following pages I will discuss various issues and problems associate with the use of a number of popular Azerbaijani identity categories and highlight the necessity of reaching a consensus around a common designation.
A Pan-Ethnic Identity: ´We All Are Turks´
In its current usage, the term ´Turk´ defines the ethnic/linguistic/national identity of the majority of people in the Republic of Turkey. It also defines the ethnic/cultural/linguistic identity of a variety of other groups and communities in such places as Central Asia, Caucasia, Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans who loosely use the term to refer to their ethnic affiliations. One of the earliest sources that makes mention of the term ´Turk´ is an encyclopedia titled Diwan-i Lughãt at-Turk, written by Mehmud of Kashger in 1072-73. In this book, the author traces the genealogy of the word ´Turk´ back to the time of the Prophet Noah and claims ´Turk´ to be the name of one of Prophet Noah´s sons.31 There are also references to ´Turk´ and its variations such as ´tu-kiu,´ ´tur-kiut,´ ´tur-kiu,´ ´turku,´ ´turukh,´ ´durukh,´ and ´turuk´ in some ancient Assyrian, Chinese and Japanese sources.32 These references indicate that some segments of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Caucasia and the Middle East were referred to as ´Turks´ around 1500 BC.
More recently, there has been located in the People´s Republic of Mongolia archeological evidence known as the Orkhon Inscriptions that, according to Turkish sources, are the first written monuments in which the word ´Turk´ is used. Carved from rocks and marbles, these inscriptions contain the first signals of Turkic culture and language and are considered to constitute the beginning of the Turkic family tree.33 Furthermore, the existence of considerable similarities between the ancient Sumerian language and current Turkic languages has led some scholars to consider the ancient Sumerian tongue as the proto-Turkic language of the ancient world.34
As far as the recent written history is concerned, various sources indicate that the majority of Azerbaijan´s inhabitants have consistently referred to themselves as Turks. Others have also identified them as ´Turks.´ The term ´Turk´ is thus both a self-designation as well as a designation assigned by others. During the Pahlavi rule in Iran, the term Turk, the Turks themselves, in fact everything Turkic was extremely demonized. Turks were associated with savagery, barbarism, bloodshed, pillage, stupidity, and backwardness.35 The Iranian Turks were constantly humiliated, mocked and laughed at all over the country. There were derogatory remarks, racial slurs and epithets about them on TV programs, radio broadcasts, in magazines, newspapers, works of literature, history, etc. After the demise of the Pahlavi regime, some Azeri scholars started on building and rebuilding their Turkic identity. Since then, the Turkic identity has been valorized by various intellectuals and nationalist groups alike. And this marks the beginning of the usage of ´Turk´ as a local identity.
A Local Identity: ´We Are Iranian Turks´
The designation ´Iranian-Turk´ is constructed locally, in the context of Iran and the Persian racist discourse that seeks to otherize different ethnic groups such as the Arabs and Turks by assigning the ownership of the country to "Aryan races" alone.36 To the extent that the Turkic identity is demonized and dehumanized in Iran, the Iranian Turks build up this identity in an attempt to counter the racist attacks leveled against it. While various assimilatory methods such as the denial of Turkic identity and conformity to the dominant racist discourse were adopted on the part of some Azeri intellectuals during the Pahlavi regime, the current movement to reclaim Turkic identity is increasingly becoming popular in Azerbaijan and other parts of Iran. In effect, this act of reclamation uses what maybe called an essentialist understanding of identity to offset the racist attacks by the dominant exclusionary order. It may be considered essentialist because it is often reconstructed vis-à-vis the essentialist and racist construction of Persian/Aryan racial group, by way of which this group is presented as being in the possession of an unchanging, fixed, pure and authentic identity with biologically and culturally superior qualities.37 The use of ´Turk´ as an anti-thesis to a racist Persian identity maybe regarded as what Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has termed a ´strategic essentialism.´38
An essentialist use of ´Turk´ on a local Iranian level has inevitably linked this identity to the larger ideology of Turkism rooted in an existing notion of pan-ethnic/pan-Turkist identity. This linkage is demonstrated through reactions shown on the part of Iranian Turks to issues emerging from Armenian-Turkish and Kurdish-Turkish relations. Belonging to a pan-ethnic identity compels some Azerbaijanis to act as advocates of the former Ottoman Empire or the current Turkish Republic by showing reactions against the demands that certain ethnic groups such as the Armenians and the Kurds have from these political entities. As a result, some ethnic conflicts existing in the Turkish Republic are spelled over to Azerbaijan and are automatically made to be an Azerbaijani issue. Whereas in reality they are not Azerbaijani issues but issues related to the Turkish government.
Thus, this essentialist and undemocratic understanding of pan-ethnic identity serves to create hostilities among various ethnic groups particularly at a time when these groups need to be cooperating with one another towards the achievement of common social, cultural, political and collective rights. For instance, in an article titled "A Word with the People of South Azerbaijan," Dr Alireza Nazmi-Afshar, a well-known Azerbaijani activist, warns the Azerbaijanis that the independence of South Azerbaijan from Iran will eventually lead to the independence of Kurds from Turkey, which in his view, would be disastrous to the Turks all over the world.
As he puts it, the Azerbaijanis´ demand for independence from Iran, no matter how reasonable and rightful, will legitimize similar demands on the part of PKK Kurds in Turkey and Dashnak Armenians in Qarabagh… Is this really what we want? By saying this perhaps I will be accused of Pan-Turkism. But if this kind of responsibility towards other Turks and their national interests…is Pan-Turkism…then I am a Pan-Turkist. I am a Pan-Turkist. I am a Pan-Turkist.39
In addition to creating animosity and hatred among various ethnic groups in Iran , this kind of pan-ethnic identity serves to project an undemocratic image of Azerbaijani people and their struggle for justice, equality and human rights. As such, more and more, a pan-ethnic vision of identity loses its significance particularly for those Azeris who advance their struggle within a framework of human rights, justice, and anti-racist struggle. ´Turk´ is the proper name and national identity of the Turkic citizens of the Republic of Turkey. In order to distinguish themselves from the Turks of Turkey, some Azeris have sought to refer to themselves through designations such as Azerbaijani-Turk or Iranian Turk. These kinds of hyphenated-combinations are prone to criticism for being too long, too vague and confusing, awkward to pronounce and uneasy to write. The term may make sense in Azeri language and among Azeri audiences, but when translated into someone else´s language, others do not understand at all what the term stands for. This becomes completely problematic particularly in multicultural and multilingual diasporic environments. For instance, if we were to follow this line of reasoning in Diaspora, then an Azeri-Canadian such as myself would have to identify him or herself as ´Azerbaijani-Turkish-Iranian-Canadian.´ That how awkward and confusing and impractical this sounds is self-explanatory!40 Hence, the necessity for a more familiar global identity, one which would be easily applicable to Azerbaijanis living in Diaspora, in Iran, and in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The Azeri Alternative: A Transcultural / Diasporic Identity
´Azeri´ is another important designation that is used as an identity category to represent the Azerbaijani people. We come across this term in early Assyrian and Arabic sources, spanning the history some three thousand years back. In ancient Assyrian sources, for instance, there is mention of a city and region known as ´Azari´ situated in the vicinity of "the Lake of Urmu" in western Azerbaijan.41 The inhabitants of this city were referred to as the "Azers/Azerler" who were a member of the Turkic racial/ethnic group.42 The Assyrian sources document a directive issued by the Assyrian King, Sargon II, in the last quarter of the 8th century BC, regarding the reparation and renovation of a major highway that connected a number of important cities in Caucasia and the Middle East. The official in charge of implementing the King´s order writes:
I remove […] from Sare to Dur-Atanate, the Arraphaeans remove […] from Dur-Atanate to Dur-Taliti, [I] remove [the…] again from Dur-Taliti to Azari… [emphasis added]43
A number of Arab travelers and historians have also made frequent references to ´Azerbaijan´ and ´al-Azeriyya.´44 Yaqut al-Hamavi, the 13th century Arab traveler and historian, regarding the language of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan writes:
They have a peculiar language called al-Azerriya and no one can understand it except for themselves.45
Azerbaijan being the name of the land, the Arabs called the vast majority of its inhabitants and their language ´al-Azerriya.´ This ´al-Azeriyya´ was transliterated/translated into Persian and Turkish sources as ´Azeri,´ which has been used alongside ´Turk´ to refer to the identity of Azerbaijan´s inhabitants. In fact, the two terms have been used interchangeably not only by the Azerbaijanis themselves, but by the Arabs, Persians, and Europeans as well. For instance, regarding the definition of the term, we read in Borhan-e Qate´, the great Persian Encyclopedia:
When the Oghuz came to that region [i.e., Azerbaijan], the Lord of Oghuz took liking to one of its towns called Ujan. He asked each of his people to bring a skirt-full of earth and pour it there. He himself brought a skirt-full and poured. All his army personnel and his people each brought a skirt-full and piled there. Soon a gigantic mountain was formed. He named it Azerbaijan, for Azer in Turkic stands for height and ´Baijan´ means the elders and lords.46
Azeri and Turk have been used interchangeably throughout most of Azerbaijan´s modern history. At least such was the case until an Iranian intellectual named Ahmad Kasravi published an article in the 1920s and refuted thereby the synonymity between the two terms. Himself of an Azerbaijani origin, Kasravi ventured on to claim that, among other things, Azerbaijan was originally populated by ´Pahlavi/Farsi-Speaking´ Aryans who had later on become Turkified due to the Seljuq and Mongol invasions of Iran in the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, respectively. Hence: the ´invention´ of an Indo-European Azari/Azeri language.
Immediately after the popularization of Kasravi´s theory, the terms ´Azerbaijan´ and ´Azeri´ became highly politicized. The dominant Persian group in Iran used the opportunity to advance its chauvinistic agenda of delegitimizing Iran´s ´non-Indo-European´ ethnic groups. Many linguists, historians, and social scientists joined in and tried to prove that the language spoken in Ancient Azerbaijan was exclusively and entirely Persian.47 A number of European social scientists and ´Orientalists´ too supported these chauvinistic views, insisting that Farsi was ´the only´ language spoken in all parts of the ´Iranshehr´ prior to the emergence and triumph of Islam in Iran.48
Elsewhere49 I have dealt with Kasravi´s theory in some detail. It is crystal clear by now that his assumptions about the Azeri language lacked serious historical, linguistic or scientific credibility. He publicized such views because he believed they were going to be "good for Iran."50 It was the era of European positivism and Aryanist racism, when monolingualism was promoted and diversity was discarded. Kasravi and his followers were proceeding based on the assumption that there was a ´pure Aryan/Iranian´ race that could be identified and maintained in its ´pure´ form. Language was the main signifier of this race´s identity and authenticity. In the context of Iran, this language could not be any other than Farsi/Persian. Therefore, the first step in purification of the supposedly Aryan race of Iran was to annihilate the variety of non-Aryan languages spoken in the country. Thus, by inventing an Aryan language for the Azeris and through forcing them to abandon their language for Farsi, Kasravi and his followers thought that they were purifying Iran´s Aryan race and culture.
Irrespective of these racist endeavors, the fact remains that ancient Azerbaijan was a fertile land on which multiplicity of races, languages and cultures flourished side by side. According to the tenth century Arab traveller, al-Muqaddasi, "over 70 languages were spoken in Azerbaijan."51 Ibn Hawqal, another 10th century Arab historian determined the number of languages spoken in Azerbaijan and Caucasia to be "360 spoken languages."52 It is not surprising then to see a certain Caucasian mountain is referred to in Arabic sources as "Jebal-ul-Alsana" or "the Mountain of Languages."53
This rich variety clearly illustrates the existence of high degree of linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity in ancient Azerbaijan. As such, it should not be difficult to dig out fragments of a variety of dead or living languages from that region. The problem arises, though, when certain groups and individuals try to present one single language as ´the only authentic and original and pure language spoken in ancient Azerbaijan.´ This was the mission upon which Ahmad Kasravi and his followers had embarked. Obviously, this kind of misrepresentation entails an essentialist notion of identity, a notion which has already been rejected as being racist, assimilatory, and exclusionary.
A definition of ´Azeri´ that is currently used in international literature does not correspond to Kasravi´s race-based and race-driven definition. The meaning of Azeri, much like other linguistic products, has been influenced by natural shifts, ruptures and transformations in language. In its current form, it stands for the inhabitants of Azerbaijan and their language, which is a Turkic one.
Azeri is widely used in intercultural communications mainly because of its simplicity, brevity and familiarity. It alludes to a distinct people living in or originating from a distinct land; and it does this in the most transparent fashion, a quality that its rival terms lack. It does not require hyphenation, prefix or suffix. Perhaps that is why, more and more Azerbaijanis are realizing that ´Azeri´ is here to stay.
A Democratic Alternative: the Emerging Azerbaijani Identity
Alongside the recognition of ´Azeri´ as a viable ethnic and linguistic designation by the international community, the term ´Azerbaijani´ is also making a comeback. In his recent visit to the US, the President Ilham Aliev of Azerbaijan announced on April 26, 2006:
Azerbaijanis live in many countries. Recently we had the Second Congress of World Azerbaijanis. And according to our estimations, there are more than 50 million Azerbaijanis who live around the world, and about 30 million of them live in Iran.54
Those following the development of identity formations among the Azeris can appreciate the significance of the term ´Azerbaijani´ in President Aliev´s articulation. The choice of this term corresponds to the democratic, diverse and multicultural vision of Azerbaijan that the president skillfully projects of his country:
Azerbaijan is a multinational country… We have various nationalities, various religions represented, the highest degree of religious and ethnic tolerance. Azerbaijan is a secular country, and not only by its constitution, but by way of life.55
It is the ´Azerbaijani-ness´ that binds the diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious communities together. And that is why the designation ´Azerbaijani´ represents a democratic identity. It is not based on some essentialist, racist, or ethnocentric vision of solidarity in the context of ´blood,´ race or ethnicity. It is based on common citizenship, land and territory, which makes it a democratic identity. This ´Azerbaijani´ identity received a major boost recently, when various Azeri-Canadian individuals, groups and communities issued public statements demanding all Azeris residing in Canada to identify themselves on the 2006 Census Questionnaire as ´Azerbaijanis´ or ´Azeris´ rather than Turks, Iranians, Persians and other combinations.56 The question number 7 on the census questionnaire states: "What is the language that this person [you] first learned at home in childhood and still understands?57 "If we answer Turk or Turkish to this question," one of the public statements observed, we will be considered as nationals of the Republic of Turkey. And if we reply Persian or Farsi, we will be considered Iranian nationals. Obviously, both responses undermine our Azerbaijani identity and are, therefore, incorrect… Let us all come together and announce once for all through this census that: We are Azerbaijanis and our mother tongue is Azerbaijani. (emphasis in original)58
While these kinds of open acknowledgements of Azeri/Azerbaijani identity in the past would invoke harsh responses on the part of those adhering to an essentialist pan-ethnic identity, this time there was no harsh reaction or symbolic violence committed against those promoting the ´Azerbaijani´ identity. This new awareness may in itself indicate the evolution of Azeri Diaspora from infancy towards maturity. In fact, there is a rich history behind this democratic ´Azerbaijani´ identity in both southern and northern Azerbaijan(s). In the North, it was Mohammed Emin Resulzadeh who for the first time came up with the common Azerbaijani identity in the early 20th century. At the time, the Azerbaijanis together with other Turkic-speaking peoples of the Russian Empire were commonly identified as ´Rusiyye Musulmanlari´ (the Muslims of Russia), ´Tatarlar´ (the Tatars) or ´Rusiyye Turkleri´ (the Turks of Russia), much the same way as some Azeris in the South currently refer to themselves as ´the Iranian Turks´ or ´the Turks of Iran.´ While observing the existence of certain similarities among various Turkic peoples in the region, Resulzadeh maintained that Azerbaijan constituted a distinct society due to unique historical, cultural, and social characteristics shared by its inhabitants.59 From this observation a modern notion of Azerbaijani identity was born.
Similarly, it was during the Democratic Government (1945-46) of Mir Jafar Pishevari that a sophisticated Azerbaijani identity was developed in southern Azerbaijan. In this period, notions such as Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani nation, Azerbaijani national homeland became prevalent. It is noteworthy that, although previous movements such as the Constitutional Movement and the Movement of Sheyx Mohammed Xiyabani were strongly rooted in Azerbaijan and had some ethnic tendencies, these movements and their leadership were not politically sophisticated enough to see Azerbaijan as a distinct society and to view it as the national Azeri homeland. This changing and shifting nature of identity formations among the Azeris confirm the post-modern and post-colonial definition of identity in the sense that identities are not some sort of fixed and unchanging phenomena. On the contrary, they are quite fluid, hybrid, and flexible. Our world is full of "melange and hotchpotch,"60 "ambivalent"61 and "subaltern"62 identities, and we should not, in fact cannot, be essentialists or fundamentalists when it comes to our identification. As Edward Said puts it, No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are not more than starting-points, which if followed into actual experience for only a moment are quickly left behind. Imperialism consolidated the mixture of cultures and identities on a global scale. But its worst and most paradoxical gift was to allow people to believe that they were only, exclusively, white, or black, or Western, or Oriental.63
As the Republic of Azerbaijan becomes more integrated into the world community, the prospect of accepting the Azerbaijani/Azeri designation becomes more practical in both southern and northern Azerbaijan. For all intents and purposes, the international community has already accepted ´Azeri´ and/or ´Azerbaijani´ as legitimate ethnic/linguistic/cultural/national identity of Azerbaijani people. Compared to their rival terms such as Turk, Azerbaijani-Turk, Iranian-Turk, the ´Azeri´ and ´Azerbaijani´ designations are more inclusive, more familiar and much more transparent. And this makes them suitable identity categories for the 21st century.
Conclusion
Identities are articulated within a variety of shifting social, political, economic, cultural and discursive contexts. The constantly changing nature of identity contexts warrant renewed articulation and examination of identity categories. Essentialist understandings of identity are rooted in equally essentialist notions of race, ethnicity, language and culture. Such understandings can and often do have exclusionary consequences particularly in pluralistic environments. This accentuates the necessity of promoting more democratic and inclusive notions of identity in contemporary diverse societies. A non-essentialist and flexible approach to identity allows for democratic dialogue and negotiation which can result in a formulation of a locally effective and globally relevant identity category. This way, as citizens of a small global village, we may be moving towards the achieving of what Pico Iyer has called ´a global soul.´64
This paper has looked into the multiple identities of Azerbaijan as these identities continue to oscillate among various geo-political and historical zones, conditioned by lived experiences of individuals, groups, and communities. The paper shows that such identity categories as ´Turk,´ ´Iranian-Turk,´ ´Azeri,´ and ´Azerbaijani´ are constructed based on different social, cultural, political, and economic conditions in Iran, in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in the Azeri Diaspora. The paper discusses how an essentialist version of a ´Turkic´ identity has been forming in Iran since the 1978-79 revolution, mainly in reaction to an equally essentialist and aggressively racist construction of Farsism and Aryanism. Simultaneously, it looks into a more flexible and inclusive ´Azerbaijani´ identity that has been shaping in the Republic of Azerbaijan directly in response to issues emerging from an increasingly globalizing, diverse and heterogeneous nation-state.
The paper shows that as the Republic of Azerbaijan becomes socio-economically and geopolitically significant, and to the extent that it is acknowledged by the international community as such, its influence on Azeri Diaspora becomes much stronger than the influence received from Iran and the southern Azerbaijan. Given this constantly increasing influence, it is reasonable to conclude that the ´Azerbaijani´ and ´Azeri´ identity categories are on their way to becoming dominant designations in the Azeri Diaspora.
Notes
29 Alireza Asgharzadeh, "Islamic fundamentalism, Globalization, and Migration: New Challenges for Canada," in Rose Folson, ed., Calculated kindness: global restructuring, immigration and settlement in Canada (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2004), 130-150.
30 Asghar Fathi, ed., Iranian Refugees and Exiles Since Khomeini (California: Mazda Publishers, 1991); Asgharzadeh, "Islamic fundamentalism, Globalization, and Migration."
31 Mahmood Kashgari, Divan Lugat et-Turk, trans. M. Siyaqi, (Tehran: Pajuheshgah-e Olum-e Ensani ve Motaleat-e Farhangi, 1073/1996).
32 A.N. Kononov, Opit analiza termina "Turk," (SE, No 1, 1947); Zehtabi, Iran Turklerinin Eski Tarixi.
33Turkish Daily News, 17 April, 2001.
34 Zehtabi, Iran Turklerinin Eski Tarixi; Alireza Asgharzadeh, "Current Azerbaijani Situation and the Problematic of Diaspora: Methods and Strategies for Building Alliances," Tribun, 2002, [3] www.tribun.com…
35 Chafi Javadi, Tabriz ve Piramun, (Tehran: Nahsr-e Diba, 1971); Enayetullah Reza, Iran va Turkan dar Ruzgar-e Sasanian, (Tehran: Sherket-e Entsharat-e Elmi va Farhangi, 1986).
36 Asgharzadeh, Iran and the Challenge of Diversity.
37 Alireza Asgharzadeh, "The Anatomy of Iranian Racism: Reflections on the Root Causes of South Azerbaijan´s Resistance Movement," Baku Today (May 28, 2006), [4] www.bakutoday….
38 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" in C Nelson and L. Grossberg ,eds., Marxism and the interpretation of Culture, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988).
39 Alireza Nazmi-Afshar, "Sokhani ba mardom-e Azerbaijan Janubi," Shams Tabriz (May 13, 2006)1, [5] www.shamstabri…
40 Asgharzadeh, "Notes on Azeri/Turk dichotomy;" "Current Azerbaijani Situation."
41 G.B. Lanfranchi and S. Parpola, eds., State Archives of Assyiría, vol v, the
Correspondence of Sargon II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces (Helsinki: the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1990)
42 Firidun Agasioglu, Azer Xalqi (Baki:Chashioglu Neshriyyati, 2000), 16.
43 State Archives of Assyria, vol.5, N229, r.1-9; Agasioglu, Azer Xalqi, 16-17.
44 see for example S. Ibn Howqal, Surat al-Arz, ed., J. Shoar (Tehran: Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran, 1966); Al-Mas´udi, Kitab al-Tanbih val-Ishraf, ed., M.J. de Geoje (Leiden: Brill, 1894); S. Al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan ut-Taqasim fi Ma´rifat ul-Aqalim, ed., M.J. de Geoje (M.J. Leiden: Brill, 1906); Yaqut Hamavi, Kitab Mo´jam al-Buldan, vol. 1, ed., F. Wustenfeld (Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1866).
45 Hamavi, Kitab Mo´jam, 102.
46 M. Khalaf-Tabrizi, Borhan-e Qate´, ed., M. Moin (Tehran: Ibn-e Sina, 1963/1983), vol 1, 24.
47 Mahmood Afshar, ´Aghaznameh´ Ayendeh, 1(1), (1925), 5-6.
48 Joseph Marquaurt, Eransahr nach der Geographie des Ps. Moses Xorenac´i (Berlin: Weidmann, 1901); Gordon V. Childe, The Aryans: A Study of Indo-European Origins (London: Kegan Paul, 1926).
49 Asgharzadeh, Iran and the Challenge of Diversity.
50 Ahmad Kasravi, Tarikh-e Hejdah Saleh-ye Azerbaijan (Tehran: Taban, 1941); Ahmad Kasravi, Azeri ya Zaban-e Bastan-e Azerbaigan, (Tehran: Taban, 1938); Ahmad Kasravi, Shahryaran-e Gomnam, (Tehran, 1929); Yahya Zaka, Maqalat-e Kasravi, (Tehran: Nahsr-e Danesh, 1955).
51 Al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan ut-Taqasim, 260.
52 Ibn Howqal, Surat al-Arz, 82.
53 Asgharzadeh, "Current Azerbaijani Situation"
54 Ilham Aliev, "A Conversation with Ilham Aliyev," (Federal News Service, April 26, 2006), [6] www.cfr.org/pu…
55 Ibid.
56 Shams Tabriz News, "Hamvatanan-e Aziz-e Azerbaijani," (May 9, 2006)1,
57 Statistics Canada, Census Questionnaire, 2006 [7] www50.statcan….
58 Shams Tabriz, "Hamvatanan-e Eziz"
59 Mahammed Amin Resulzade, Azerbaijan Problemi, (Ankara: Azerbaycan Kultur DernekiYayinlari, 1920/1996).
60 Salman Rushdi, Imaginary Homelands (London, Granta/Penguin, 1991).
61 Homi Bhabha, Nation and Narration, (London: Routledge, 1990); Homi Bhabha, The Location of Culture, (London: Routledge, 1994).
62 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present (Harvard University Press, 1999)
Note
Picture: Iran cannot exist; beyond the Azeris and other Turkic nations that are preponderant in the North, a number of diverse nations in the West, the South, and the East demand the abolition of the shameful Ayatollah butchery. From:
http://www.ordoesitexplode.com/me/2006/08/mapping_irans_m.html
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