Роман Арабов/National movement of Talysh people | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Alikram Hummatov |
| Headquarters | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Website | |
| http://www.tolishstan.com/ | |
National Movement of Talysh people is a Talysh movement created in 2007 in the Netherlands, where part of the Talysh leadership lives in exile. Many of the movement's members had previously participated in the formation of the Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic in 1993, including board member Alakram Gummatov.
History edit
In the second half of August 1993, the members of the Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic and servicemen associated with the President of the TMAR Gummatov were recalled from the front, then arrested and subjected to repression. Gummatov's relatives were also repressed, his brothers and uncle were arrested and convicted of harboring a state criminal. Alakram Gummatov's wife hid from arrest for a long time. Gummatov's twelve-year-old son was tortured by the police by burning his hands with cigarettes. Alacram was arrested and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison. Under pressure from the Council of Europe, he was pardoned in 2004. From the Netherlands and other European countries, he and other refugees from Talish are trying to support the still active national movement in Azerbaijan.
Since 2007, Alakram Gummatov has been heading the National Movement of Talysh in the Netherlands, where part of the Talysh leadership of the TMAR lives in exile. In particular, the TND stands for the creation of a Talysh province with regional administration within the borders of Azerbaijan. The organization calls for decentralization of power in order to promote fairer representation of minority groups, as well as to guarantee cultural and linguistic freedoms.
The headquarters of the organization is considered to be The Hague, where the head of the Gummat movement lives; the organization is headed by a political council of 15 people.
May 5, 2015, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) together with the European Parliament and in cooperation with the National Movement of Talysh convened a conference entitled “Azerbaijan: Double Standards and Abuses of Minority Rights”. The second part of the conference, entitled “Ways Forward: Civil Society Initiatives, Economic Development and International Strategies,” was aimed at discussing theoretical and practical alternatives for protecting the rights of minorities in Azerbaijan. The second part was opened by TND President Alakram Gummatov, who addressed the problems arising from the extreme political centralization of the Aliyev government. While in theory it is a democracy, he said, there is no real separation of powers in the country, and its current political system leaves no room for dissent or alternative opinions. In his opinion, a possible solution lies in political reforms and decentralization, which will give each of the regions of the country the opportunity to change their social, cultural and economic life in accordance with their needs and identity.
An important role in the movement is played by the former chairman of the People's Mejlis of the Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic, philosopher and political scientist Fakhraddin Abbaszadeh, who emigrated to Russia in 1995, but returned to his homeland in 2005 and published a newspaper in Baku, but in 2008 was forced to emigrate to Russia because of oppression. In July 2018, F. Abbaszadeh was detained by the Russian authorities and at the beginning of 2019 extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was brought to trial for anti-state activities. When studying the materials on the basis of which the accusatory decision was made, the international human rights organization Amnesty International, in its report "Azerbaijan authorities must release Talysh activists", concluded that none of these materials contains evidence of any recognized crimes in accordance with international law and standards, or contains any incitement to acts of violence. Calls for secession are protected by international law, and Abbasov exercised his right to freedom of expression in upholding his vision of an independent Talysh state.
Goals of movement edit
The National Movement of Talysh people stands for the Talysh region with regional joint administration within the borders of Azerbaijan. This requires the decentralization of power in order to promote fairer representation of minority groups and to guarantee cultural and linguistic freedoms.
July 15, 2018, a group of young activists, together with Alakram Gummatov, formed the government of the Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic in exile. The TND government sends letters and statements to international organizations of the state and world human rights organizations to reflect the situation of the Talysh in the country. In addition, in their country, in their country, it is not required to reduce the strain on the muscles. All ministers of the government of the Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic live in exile, in countries such as the Netherlands.
Problems edit
According to the ONN website, like many other minorities in Azerbaijan, residents of Talysh are subjected to aggressive assimilation attempts - the Talysh language has no formal education, and reading and speaking this language is not welcomed by the authorities. Instead, Talysh are encouraged to use Azeri or Persian in official situations. Thus, the number of young people studying in Talysh is declining, as this language is currently classified as “vulnerable” by UNESCO. This poses a serious threat to the cultural integrity of the Talysh, and therefore one of the key goals of the movement of talysh people is greater linguistic freedom.
Azerbaijan has not yet ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which defines measures to promote the use of regional or minority languages in public life, thereby protecting the languages. There are no educational institutions in Azerbaijan that graduate teachers of the Talysh language. In addition to linguistic and economic problems among the Talysh people, the lack of support for the Talysh media, the absence of TV channels in the Talysh language, there is no normal reflection of the culture and history of the Talysh in the scientific sphere.
Active Talysh figures were persecuted who claimed the rights of the Talysh people, who were conducting human rights work, or who had a point of view of the inappropriate position of the official authorities, for example, the death in prison of the scientist Novruzali Mamedov, the prison term of journalist Hilal Mammadov, the oppression of Atakhan Abilov, the prison term of Fakhraddin Abbaszadeh and Elvin Isaev.
The leaders of the Talysh national movement are convinced that the current authorities of Azerbaijan continue the course for the full assimilation of the Talysh on the principle "no people - no problem"-
[[Category:Indigenous peoples]] [[Category:Talysh]] [[Category:History of Talysh]] [[Category:Talysh people]]