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Whole Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Bütöv Azərbaycan) is an irredentist concept of uniting presumed historically Azerbaijani-inhabited territories into the Republic of Azerbaijan.

History

The idea of "Whole Azerbaijan" was formulated by Piruz Dilanchi in 1991 and defined in 1992 by Azerbaijani president Abulfaz Elchibey (s. 1992-93). In 1991, Dilanchi founded the SANLM nationalist organization and in 1997 Elchibey founded the "Whole Azerbaijan Union" (Bütöv Azərbaycan Birliyi) organization. Elchibey published his book on the idea, Bütöv Azərbaycan yolunda, in Turkey in 1998. It claimed that the borders of Azerbaijan should extend from Derbent to the Persian Gulf. Elchibey claimed that this was a territory of Azerbaijani historical ethnic presence. He proposed that Azerbaijan had right to rule it, under a proposed system of governance called "United Azerbaijani Lands" (Birləşmiş Azərbaycan Yurdları). After his death in 2002, it was published postmortem. He opposed the idea of a separate and independent South Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani historiography portrays the early to mid 1800s as the "ideal" and "normative" situation with Azeri sovereignty over Karabakh and Southern Azerbaijan (Iran), despite that a "united Azerbaijan" was never, in fact, independent but always part of the Persian empires.

The concept of Whole Azerbaijan has been Azerbaijani state policy since the September 2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan clashes.

Political initiatives

The term Whole Azerbaijan continued in political initiatives including the SANLM (CAMAH) and Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party.

Boundaries

Although the boundaries of Whole Azerbaijan are not strictly defined, some proponents portray them as encompassing the following areas:

• Iranian Azerbaijan / South Azerbaijan (Cənubi Azərbaycan) - provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan

• Western Azerbaijan (Qərbi Azərbaycan) - all of the territory of Armenia

• Derbent (Dərbənd) - Derbentsky district, Republic of Dagestan

• Borchali (Borçalı) - part of the Kvemo Kartli province of Georgia

See also

• Azerbaijan (toponym)
• Azerbaijan–Iran border
• Azerbaijani nationalism
  • Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement
• Zangezur Corridor
• Western Azerbaijan (political concept)
• Qara Qoyunlu
• Kurdistan
• Eastern Armenia

References

1. Broers, Laurence (2019). "Questionable Borders". Armenia and Azerbaijan: (Anatomy of a Rivalry). Edinburgh University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4744-5052-2.
2. "Sayfa Bulunamadı - Ankara Haber Son dakika - Ankara Haberleri Sondakika".
3. Keskin, Arif (February 6, 2003). "Güney Azerbaycan Milli Demokratik Hareketi Yol Ayrımında". TÜRKSAM (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on February 28, 2012.
4. "Program of South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement". SANLM. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
5. ^ Rehmoğlu, Arif. "Satranç Tahtasında Azerbaycan ve Farsistan". Avrasya Dosyası, Avrasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi. Ankara.
6. "Böyük Azərbaycan tarixən şimalda Dərbənddən başlayıb, Həmədan mərkəz olmaqla Bəsrə körfəzinədək uzanırdı" Bütöv Azərbaycan yolunda, Əbülfəz Elchibey, Ecdad Yayınları, Ankara, 1998
7. Bütöv Azərbaycan Haqqında, Yeni Müsavat newspaper, Baku, 2002
8. Brown, Cameron S. (2004). "Wanting to Have Their Cake and Their Neighbor's Too: Azerbaijani Attitudes towards Karabakh and Iranian Azerbaijan". Middle East Journal. 58 (4): 576–596. ISSN 0026-3141.
9. Astourian 2023, p. 236.
10. "Məramnanmə – CAMAH".
11. Yoksa, Erhan (October 2020). "Ebulfez Elçibey'inAzerbaycan Özelinde Türk Dünyası Meselelerine Bakışı". Journal of Universal History Studies (in Turkish) (3): 216–237.
12. "Bütöv Azerbaycan!". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-05-12.
13. Elchibey, Abulfaz (2004). Bütöv Azärbaycan yolunda. ISBN 9789952403435.
14. "Elçibey'in "Birleşmiş Azerbaycan" ideolojisi – KAFKASSAM – Kafkasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi". 5 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
15. "Present-day Armenia located in ancient Azerbaijani lands - Ilham Aliyev". News.Az. October 16, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
16. "Aliyev: "The great return begins"". commonspace.eu. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
17. "Azerbaijan seeks "Great Return" of refugees to Armenia | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
18. "Azerbaijan seeks "Great Return" of refugees to Armenia | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
19. "Ilham Aliyev viewed conditions created at administrative building of Western Azerbaijan Community » Official web-site of President of Azerbaijan Republic". president.az. Retrieved 2023-01-27.

Sources

• Astourian, Stephan H. (2023). "Origins, Main Themes and Underlying Psychological Disposition of Azerbaijani Nationalism". In Dorfmann-Lazarev, Igor; Khatchadourian, Haroutioun (eds.). Monuments and Identities in the Caucasus Karabagh, Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan in Contemporary Geopolitical Conflict. Brill. pp. 206–236. ISBN 978-90-04-67738-8.

External links

• "Diaspora agrees to reintegrate Iranian Azerbaijan in Republic of Azerbaijan". abc.az. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.

• Azerbaijani nationalism
• National unifications
• Politics of Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijani irredentism