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85-708: Black January ( Azerbaijani : Qara Yanvar ), also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre , was a violent crackdown on Azerbaijani nationalism and anti-Soviet sentiment in Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union . General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev and Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov asserted that military law

170-429: A 2011 study, 30 Turkish participants were tested to determine how well they understood written and spoken Azerbaijani. It was found that even though Turkish and Azerbaijani are typologically similar languages, on the part of Turkish speakers the intelligibility is not as high as is estimated. In a 2017 study, Iranian Azerbaijanis scored in average 56% of receptive intelligibility in spoken Turkish. Azerbaijani exhibits

255-670: A coup d'état in Azerbaijan: "A meeting was planned at which it was proposed to declare the transfer of power into the hands of the People's Front." He noted how the "Popular Front" declared its own state of emergency in Baku before the action was taken and how Soviet state organs "ceased to control the situation." During the Black January crackdown, Soviet authorities managed to suppress all efforts to disseminate news from Azerbaijan to

340-449: A degree mutually intelligible, though it is easier for a speaker of Azerbaijani to understand Turkish than the other way around. Turkish soap operas are very popular with Azeris in both Iran and Azerbaijan. Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran (who spoke South Azerbaijani) met with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey (who spoke Turkish) in 1934; the two were filmed speaking their respective languages to each other and communicated effectively. In

425-537: A group of lawyers and officers in reserve, observed human rights violations in the army and its military operations, and concluded that the army waged a war on its civilians and demanded to start a criminal investigation against the Minister of Defence, Dmitry Yazov, who had personally led the operation. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry officials helped Popular Front activists in stirring disorder by providing them with weapons, technical facilities, and informing them about

510-413: A group of people who are determined not to miss armed troops coming into the city, with some of them already fallen. Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani ( / ˌ æ z ər b aɪ ˈ dʒ æ n i , - ɑː n i / AZ -ər-by- JAN -ee ) or Azeri ( / æ ˈ z ɛər i , ɑː -, ə -/ az- AIR -ee, ah-, ə- ), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish , is a Turkic language from

595-657: A literary language in the 14th century through poetry and other works. One ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu state, Jahanshah , wrote poems in Azerbaijani language with the nickname "Haqiqi". Sultan Yaqub , a ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu state, wrote poems in the Azerbaijani language. The ruler and poet Ismail I wrote under the pen name Khatā'ī (which means "sinner" in Persian ) during the fifteenth century. During

680-498: A much larger number of Persian and Arabic loanwords, phrases and syntactic elements. Early writings in Azerbaijani also demonstrate linguistic interchangeability between Oghuz and Kypchak elements in many aspects (such as pronouns, case endings, participles, etc.). As Azerbaijani gradually moved from being merely a language of epic and lyric poetry to being also a language of journalism and scientific research , its literary version has become more or less unified and simplified with

765-535: A non-syllabic / v / can also be pronounced after the aforementioned diphthongs, to form / ou̯v / and / œy̯v / , the rules of which are as follows: Modern linguists who have examined Azerbaijani's vowel system almost unanimously have recognised that diphthongs are phonetically produced in speech. Before 1929, Azerbaijani was written only in the Perso-Arabic alphabet , an impure abjad that does not represent all vowels (without diacritical marks ). In Iran,

850-516: A similar stress pattern to Turkish but simpler in some respects. Azerbaijani is a strongly stressed and partially stress-timed language, unlike Turkish which is weakly stressed and syllable-timed . Below are some cognates with different spelling in Azerbaijani and Turkish: The 1st person personal pronoun is mən in Azerbaijani just as men in Turkmen , whereas it is ben in Turkish. The same

935-622: A warning to nationalists, not only in Azerbaijan but in the other republics of the Soviet Union." "The subsequent events in the Baltic Republics – where, in a remarkable parallel to the events in Baku, the alleged civil disorder was cited as justification for violent intervention by Soviet troops – further confirms that the Soviet Government has demonstrated that it will deal harshly with nationalist movements", continues

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1020-477: Is as follows: The modern Azerbaijani Latin alphabet contains the digraphs ov and öv to represent diphthongs present in the language, and the pronunciation of diphthongs is today accepted as the norm in the orthophony of Azerbaijani. Despite this, the number and even the existence of diphthongs in Azerbaijani has been disputed, with some linguists, such as Abdulazal Damirchizade  [ az ] , arguing that they are non-phonemic. Damirchizade's view

1105-562: Is because there is a strong tu-vous distinction in Turkic languages like Azerbaijani and Turkish (as well as in many other languages). The informal "you" is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal "you" is used when talking to someone who is older than the speaker or to show respect (to a professor, for example). Popular Front of Azerbaijan The party formed in 1989 as an anti-Soviet political movement. The party pushed for Azerbaijani independence from

1190-641: Is certain that Russian and Iranian words (sic), respectively, have entered the vocabulary on either side of the Araxes river, but this has not occurred to an extent that it could pose difficulties for communication". There are numerous dialects, with 21 North Azerbaijani dialects and 11 South Azerbaijani dialects identified by Ethnologue. Three varieties have been accorded ISO 639-3 language codes: North Azerbaijani, South Azerbaijani and Qashqai . The Glottolog 4.1 database classifies North Azerbaijani, with 20 dialects, and South Azerbaijani, with 13 dialects, under

1275-557: Is close to present-day Azeri- Türki . ), Afshari (often considered a separate language ), Shahsavani (sometimes considered its own dialect, distinct from other Turkic languages of northwestern Iran ), Baharlu (Kamesh), Moqaddam, Nafar, Qaragozlu, Pishagchi, Bayat, Qajar, Tabriz ". Russian comparatist Oleg Mudrak  [ ru ] calls the Turkmen language the closest relative of Azerbaijani. Speakers of Turkish and Azerbaijani can, to an extent, communicate with each other as both languages have substantial variation and are to

1360-657: Is common throughout former USSR countries). The Shirvan dialect as spoken in Baku is the basis of standard Azerbaijani. Since 1992, it has been officially written with a Latin script in the Republic of Azerbaijan, but the older Cyrillic script was still widely used in the late 1990s. Ethnologue lists 21 North Azerbaijani dialects: "Quba, Derbend, Baku, Shamakhi, Salyan, Lenkaran, Qazakh, Airym, Borcala, Terekeme , Qyzylbash , Nukha, Zaqatala (Mugaly), Qabala, Nakhchivan, Ordubad, Ganja, Shusha (Karabakh), Karapapak , Kutkashen, Kuba". South Azerbaijani, or Iranian Azerbaijani,

1445-796: Is encountered in many dialects of the Turkmen language and may be observed in such words as: boyun > moyın in Yomut – Gunbatar dialect, büdüremek > müdüremek in Ersari and Stavropol Turkmens' dialects, bol > mol in Karakalpak Turkmens' dialects, buzav > mizov in Kirac dialects. Here are some words from the Swadesh list to compare Azerbaijani with Turkmen: Azerbaijani dialects share paradigms of verbs in some tenses with

1530-722: Is from Turkish Azeri which is used for the people ( azerice being used for the language in Turkish), itself from Persian آذری, Āzarī. The term is also used for Old Azeri , the ancient Iranian language spoken in the region until the 17th century. Azerbaijani evolved from the Eastern branch of Oghuz Turkic ("Western Turkic") which spread to the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe , and northern Iran, in Western Asia , during

1615-501: Is spelled Buş and Schröder becomes Şröder . Hyphenation across lines directly corresponds to spoken syllables, except for geminated consonants which are hyphenated as two separate consonants as morphonology considers them two separate consonants back to back but enunciated in the onset of the latter syllable as a single long consonant, as in other Turkic languages . Some samples include: Secular: Invoking deity: Azerbaijani has informal and formal ways of saying things. This

1700-634: Is still written in Cyrillic script. The Azerbaijani Latin alphabet is based on the Turkish Latin alphabet. In turn, the Turkish Latin alphabet was based on former Azerbaijani Latin alphabet because of their linguistic connections and mutual intelligibility. The letters Әə , Xx , and Qq are available only in Azerbaijani for sounds which do not exist as separate phonemes in Turkish. Northern Azerbaijani, unlike Turkish, respells foreign names to conform with Latin Azerbaijani spelling, e.g. Bush

1785-582: Is the official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan . It is closely related to modern-day Istanbul Turkish, the official language of Turkey. It is also spoken in southern Dagestan , along the Caspian coast in the southern Caucasus Mountains and in scattered regions throughout Central Asia . As of 2011 , there are some 9.23 million speakers of North Azerbaijani including 4 million monolingual speakers (many North Azerbaijani speakers also speak Russian, as

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1870-402: Is true for demonstrative pronouns bu , where sound b is replaced with sound m . For example: bunun > munun / mının , muna / mına , munu / munı , munda / mında , mundan / mından . This is observed in the Turkmen literary language as well, where the demonstrative pronoun bu undergoes some changes just as in: munuñ , munı , muña , munda , mundan , munça . b > m replacement

1955-717: Is widely spoken in Iranian Azerbaijan and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring regions of Turkey and Iraq , with smaller communities in Syria . In Iran , the Persian word for Azerbaijani is borrowed as Torki "Turkic". In Iran, it is spoken mainly in East Azerbaijan , West Azerbaijan , Ardabil and Zanjan . It is also spoken in Tehran and across the Tehran Province , as Azerbaijanis form by far

2040-459: The 1992 presidential election in a self-coup . Popular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey was elected in the 1992 election. The party's policies emphasized democracy, rule of law, and secularism, as well as respect for human rights, religious rights and ethnic minorities. In the aftermath of the 1993 coup where Elchibey was ousted from power, the party has been blocked from participating in several elections, and prominent individuals associated with

2125-751: The Azerbaijan parliament restored the country's independence. On 14 February 1992, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office instituted a lawsuit targeted at the individuals involved in the massacre. In March 2003, the same lawsuit was targeted at the ex-Soviet president Gorbachev for violating the article 119 of the Soviet Constitution and article 71 of the Constitution of the Azerbaijani SSR. In 1994,

2210-679: The Chuvash language , on which linguists also rely in the study and reconstruction of the Khazar language . Azerbaijani phonotactics is similar to that of other Oghuz Turkic languages, except: Works on Azerbaijani dialectology use the following notations for dialectal consonants: Examples: The vowels of the Azerbaijani are, in alphabetical order, a /ɑ/ , e /e/ , ə /æ/ , ı /ɯ/ , i /i/ , o /o/ , ö /œ/ , u /u/ , ü /y/ . The typical phonetic quality of South Azerbaijani vowels

2295-544: The Eastern Anatolia Region and all over Iran from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, alongside cultural, administrative, court literature, and most importantly official language (along with Azerbaijani) of all these regions, namely Persian . From the early 16th century up to the course of the 19th century, these regions and territories were all ruled by the Safavids , Afsharids , and Qajars until

2380-958: The Kipchak-Turkic language of the same name), the dialect of the Ayrïm (Āyrom) tribe (which, however, resembles Turkish ), and the dialect spoken in the region of the Borchala river ; (3) northern group: Zakataly , Nukha , and Kutkashen ; (4) southern group: Yerevan (Īravān), Nakhichevan (Naḵjavān), and Ordubad (Ordūbād); (5) central group: Ganja (Kirovabad) and Shusha ; (6) North Iraqi dialects ; (7) Northwest Iranian dialects: Tabrīz , Reżāʾīya ( Urmia ), etc., extended east to about Qazvīn ; (8) Southeast Caspian dialect ( Galūgāh ). Optionally, we may adjoin as Azeri (or "Azeroid") dialects: (9) East Anatolian , (10) Qašqāʾī , (11) Aynallū, (12) Sonqorī , (13) dialects south of Qom , (14) Kabul Afšārī . North Azerbaijani, or Northern Azerbaijani,

2465-576: The National Assembly of Azerbaijan adopted a full political and legal evaluation of the Black January events. According to the decree of the President of Azerbaijan , Heydar Aliyev from 16 December 1999, all victims of the crackdown were awarded an honorary title of the "Martyr of January 20" ( Azerbaijani : 20 yanvar şəhidi ). 20 January is marked as Martyrs' Day (or literally, "the Day of

2550-741: The Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people , who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan , where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken, while Iranian Azerbaijanis in the Azerbaijan region of Iran , speak the South Azerbaijani variety . Azerbaijani has official status in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Dagestan (a federal subject of Russia ), but it does not have official status in Iran, where

2635-781: The Popular Front of Azerbaijan . This was followed by a non-violent turnover of the Lankaran administration to the Popular Front two weeks later. On 9 January 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR voted to include Nagorno-Karabakh in its budget and allowed its inhabitants to vote in Armenian elections, thus disregarding Soviet authority and Azerbaijani SSR jurisdiction, and causing outrage throughout

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2720-433: The reform wing led by Ali Kerimli and the classical wing led by Mirmahmud Miralioglu. Considering the dramatic and challenging situation facing PFA following the coup, Ali Karimli took the initiative by leading and protecting the organization from the attacks of the new regime from 1993 until 1997 and restoring its political power. In 1995, with the proposal of Ali Karimli and as a result of internal party discussions,

2805-482: The 12,000-strong Interior Ministry troops to abstain from intervening in the Baku riots and numerous Soviet army and fleet units of the Baku garrison and Caspian Flotilla did not intervene to stop the riots, claiming that they had no orders from Moscow authorities. On 13 January, anti-Armenian pogrom began in Baku which resulted in 48 deaths, while thousands fled or were evacuated by the Soviet military. On 15 January,

2890-425: The 16th century, the poet, writer and thinker Fuzûlî wrote mainly in Azerbaijani but also translated his poems into Arabic and Persian . Starting in the 1830s, several newspapers were published in Iran during the reign of the Azerbaijani speaking Qajar dynasty , but it is unknown whether any of these newspapers were written in Azerbaijani. In 1875, Akinchi ( Əkinçi / اکينچی ) ("The Ploughman") became

2975-552: The Azerbaijani macrolanguage with "significant differences in phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and loanwords" between the two. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) considers Northern and Southern Azerbaijani to be distinct languages. Linguists Mohammad Salehi and Aydin Neysani write that "there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility" between North and South Azerbaijani. Svante Cornell wrote in his 2001 book Small Nations and Great Powers that "it

3060-575: The Human Rights Watch report. The Wall Street Journal editorial of 4 January 1995 stated that Gorbachev chose to use violence against "independence-seeking Azerbaijan." When a year later the world press criticized Gorbachev for violent massacres of civilians in Lithuania and Latvia , the Azerbaijani public was embittered by the silence of the world media on Gorbachev's orders a year earlier, during Black January. On 18 October 1991,

3145-710: The Iranian languages in what is now northwestern Iran, and a variety of languages of the Caucasus and Iranian languages spoken in the Caucasus , particularly Udi and Old Azeri . By the beginning of the 16th century, it had become the dominant language of the region. It was one of the spoken languages in the court of the Safavids , Afsharids and Qajars . The historical development of Azerbaijani can be divided into two major periods: early ( c.  14th to 18th century) and modern (18th century to present). Early Azerbaijani differs from its descendant in that it contained

3230-699: The Latin script and not South Azerbaijani written in the Perso-Arabic script. Modern literature in the Republic of Azerbaijan is primarily based on the Shirvani dialect, while in the Iranian Azerbaijan region (historic Azerbaijan) it is based on the Tabrizi one. An Azerbaijani koine served as a lingua franca throughout most parts of Transcaucasia except the Black Sea coast, in southern Dagestan ,

3315-509: The Modern Azeric family, a branch of Central Oghuz. In the northern dialects of the Azerbaijani language, linguists find traces of the influence of the Khazar language . According to Encyclopedia Iranica : We may distinguish the following Azeri dialects: (1) eastern group: Derbent (Darband), Kuba , Shemakha (Šamāḵī), Baku , Salyani (Salyānī), and Lenkoran (Lankarān), (2) western group: Kazakh (not to be confounded with

3400-522: The Nationwide Sorrow") in Azerbaijan. 20 January is recognized as a Day of Mourning and it is commemorated as the Day of Nationwide Sorrow ( Azerbaijani : Ümumxalq Hüzn Günü ). In January 2010, a memorial for the Black January victims was erected in the Yasamal district of Baku. The monument was designed by Javanshir Dadashov and Azad Agayed, and architect Adalat Mammadov. The opening of

3485-626: The Popular Front of Azerbaijan was reorganized from a social-political movement into a political party. In the same year, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) managed to take seats in Parliament, and Ali Kerimli became a leader of the parliamentary party fraction. In 2000, after the death of PFPA Chairman Elchibey, Ali Karimli was elected Chairman of the Party. In the 2000 parliament elections, PFPA retook seats, and Ali Karimli

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3570-600: The Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia) is based on the Shirvani dialect, while South Azerbaijani uses variety of regional dialects. Since the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Northern Azerbaijani has used the Latin script. On the other hand, South Azerbaijani has always used and continues to use the Perso-Arabic script . Azerbaijani is closely related to Turkmen , Turkish , Gagauz , and Qashqai , being mutually intelligible with each of these languages to varying degrees. Historically,

3655-445: The Soviet Union. The party staged mass protests against the Soviet regime. After Azerbaijan attained independence from the Soviet Union, Popular Front pressured the communist old guard that controlled newly independent Azerbaijan to establish a parliament and allow free elections. The party pressured Ayaz Mutallibov , Azerbaijan's first president to implement democratic reforms and forced him out of power in 1992 when he tried to cancel

3740-576: The authorities declared a state of emergency in several parts of Azerbaijan, except Baku. At the same time, fearing an intervention of the central Soviet authorities, Popular Front activists began a blockade of military barracks. They had already taken de facto control in a number of Azerbaijani regions. On 18 January, the Popular Front ordered supporters to barricade the main access routes into Baku using hundreds of cars, trucks, and buses. The next day, Soviet authorities evacuated its representatives and local officials, moving them to military command posts in

3825-581: The barricades in order to crush the Popular Front . As claimed by Mikhail Gorbachev , gunmen of the Azerbaijani National Front opened fire on the soldiers; however, findings of the Moscow-based non-governmental organization Shield found no evidence of "armed combatants of Azerbaijani Popular Front", which was used as a motive to crush the civilian population on 20 January. The independent Shield organization which consists of

3910-602: The beginning of the offensive, when many citizens already lay dead or wounded in the streets, hospitals and morgues of Baku. Almost the whole population of Baku turned out to bury the dead on the third day, 22 January. For another 40 days, the country stayed away from work as a sign of mourning and mass protest. According to several sources, between 133 and 137 civilians died with the unofficial number reaching 300. Up to 800 were injured and 5 went missing. An additional 26 people were killed in Neftchala and Lankaran regions of

3995-482: The cession of Transcaucasia proper and Dagestan by Qajar Iran to the Russian Empire per the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay . Per the 1829 Caucasus School Statute, Azerbaijani was to be taught in all district schools of Ganja , Shusha , Nukha (present-day Shaki ), Shamakhi , Quba , Baku , Derbent , Yerevan , Nakhchivan , Akhaltsikhe , and Lankaran . Beginning in 1834, it

4080-604: The city of Baku, attempts of criminal extremist forces to remove from power by organizing mass unrest legally acting state authorities and in the interests of the protection and security of citizens, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, guided by point 14 of the article 119 of the Constitution of the USSR, decrees: To declare since 20 January 1990 state of emergency in the city of Baku, by extending to its territory

4165-489: The country. According to one report, 93 Azerbaijanis and 29 Soviet soldiers were killed in the street skirmishes. Other reports state that 21 soldiers were killed and 90 wounded in the fighting. However, how the soldiers died is still disputed. The soldiers' death toll was claimed by Soviet authorities to have resulted from armed resistance, although some of the soldiers could have been victims of friendly fire . General Secretary Gorbachev and other officials asserted that it

4250-552: The dying Azerbaijani people." A special session of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR was held on 22 January 1990 at the request of the public and by the initiative of a group of MPs. It tried to initially assess the 20 January events and adopted some documents condemning the crackdown operation by the Soviet army. The Memorial Society and Helsinki Watch reported in May 1991 that they had found compelling evidence that

4335-607: The effect of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 15 January 1990. The decree contravened legal acts in force at the time, which provided that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the AzSSR would have to turn to the central government with the relevant plea. Late at night on 19 January 1990, after the demolition of the central television station and termination of phone and radio lines by Soviet special forces, 26,000 Soviet troops entered Baku, smashing through

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4420-464: The first republic in the former USSR, which achieved a full and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops. General Heydar Aliyev captured power in 1993 following the 1993 Azerbaijani coup d'état and the Subsequent vote of confidence referendum on Abulfaz Elchibey 's presidency. Elchibey was forced to leave the capital city. After Elchibey's death in 2000, the party split into two wings,

4505-520: The first Azerbaijani newspaper to be published in the Russian Empire . It was started by Hasan bey Zardabi , a journalist and education advocate. Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar is an important figure in Azerbaijani poetry. His most important work is Heydar Babaya Salam and it is considered to be a pinnacle of Azerbaijani literature and gained popularity in the Turkic-speaking world. It

4590-400: The founder of Varlıq , Javad Heyat , in 2001 where a document outlining the standard orthography and writing conventions were published for the public. This standard of writing is today canonized by a Persian–Azeri Turkic dictionary in Iran titled Loghatnāme-ye Torki-ye Āzarbāyjāni . Between 1929 and 1938, a Latin alphabet was in use for North Azerbaijani, although it was different from

4675-505: The government of the USSR complained officially to the United States about Radio Liberty's coverage of the military's intervention in Azerbaijan. The 20 January 1990 broadcasts turned Mirza Khazar into a popular figure among Azerbaijanis in and outside Azerbaijan. Malahat Aghajanqizi, a well-known Azerbaijani poet and writer, described Mirza Khazar's appearance on radio at the time of the Soviet military action as follows: "On January 20, Mirza Khazar with his God-given divine voice gave hope to

4760-422: The imposition of the state of emergency had led to an unwarranted breach of civil liberties and that Soviet troops had used unjustified force resulting in many deaths. This includes the usage of armored vehicles, bayonets and firing on clearly marked ambulances. The Human Rights Watch report entitled "Black January in Azerbaijan" states: "Indeed, the violence used by the Soviet Army on the night of January 19–20

4845-415: The independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union . In 1987, Ali Karimli , a law school student, became the founder and leader of one of these informal organizations - "Yurd" ("Homeland") - that inspired and led thousands of students to the main square of Baku city to protest against the Soviet Union. As a result, a large-scale campaign of public demonstrations and meetings swept across Azerbaijan. Later,

4930-515: The language was referred to by its native speakers as türk dili or türkcə , meaning either "Turkish" or "Turkic". In the early years following the establishment of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , the language was still referred to as "Turkic" in official documents. However, in the 1930s, its name was officially changed to "Azerbaijani". The language is often still referred to as Turki or Torki in Iranian Azerbaijan . The term "Azeri", generally interchangeable with "Azerbaijani",

5015-409: The largest minority in the city and the wider province, comprising about 1 ⁄ 6 of its total population. The CIA World Factbook reports that in 2010, the percentage of Iranian Azerbaijani speakers was at around 16 percent of the Iranian population, or approximately 13 million people worldwide, and ethnic Azeris form by far the second largest ethnic group of Iran, thus making the language also

5100-438: The leader of PFA, won the 1992 Azerbaijani presidential election . A period of political, social, and economic reforms followed. The laws on political parties, freedom of press, education, and others were adopted. The country chose a pro-western, liberal economic course and established the national currency, the Azerbaijani manat . In April 1993, the Russian (formerly Soviet) army was withdrawn from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan became

5185-454: The local population and the international community. On the eve of the military intervention, one of the leaders of Popular Front, Ekhtibar Mamedov, proposed to Kremlin officials that he appear on Azerbaijani TV at 8 PM to announce that the First Secretary of Azerbaijani Communist Party, Abdurrahman Vazirov , would be leaving, and no troops would invade Baku, thus restoring order. Instead, an energy supply source to Azerbaijani TV and State Radio

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5270-407: The loss of many archaic Turkic elements, stilted Iranisms and Ottomanisms, and other words, expressions, and rules that failed to gain popularity among the Azerbaijani masses. The Russian annexation of Iran 's territories in the Caucasus through the Russo-Iranian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 split the language community across two states. Afterwards, the Tsarist administration encouraged

5355-490: The majority of Iranian Azerbaijani people live. Azerbaijani is also spoken to lesser varying degrees in Azerbaijani communities of Georgia and Turkey and by diaspora communities, primarily in Europe and North America. Although there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between both forms of Azerbaijani, there are significant differences in phonology , lexicon , morphology , syntax , and sources of loanwords . The standardized form of North Azerbaijani (spoken in

5440-435: The medieval Turkic migrations . Persian and Arabic influenced the language, but Arabic words were mainly transmitted through the intermediary of literary Persian. Azerbaijani is, perhaps after Uzbek , the Turkic language upon which Persian and other Iranian languages have exerted the strongest impact—mainly in phonology, syntax, and vocabulary, less in morphology. The Turkic language of Azerbaijan gradually supplanted

5525-429: The monument took place on 20 January 2010. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the head of the presidential administration Ramiz Mehdiyev , chief executive of Yasamal Ibrahim Mehdiyev, and families of the victims of the tragedy attended the ceremony. The total area of the complex is 1,500 square metres (16,000 sq ft). The height of the monument and pedestal is 8 metres (26 ft). The memorial depicts

5610-433: The movement of army units. The troops attacked the protesters, firing into the crowds. The shooting continued for three days. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency , which continued for more than four months afterward, declared by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , signed by Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev . The state of emergency was, however, disclosed to the Azerbaijani public only several hours after

5695-403: The movement was suppressed by the special forces of the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Despite this fact, the Popular Front of Azerbaijan was established and Yurd became an integral part of this movement. Intellectuals associated with the party questioned the official Soviet narrative of the Soviet takeover of Azerbaijan in 1920. In 1992, Abulfaz Elchibey ,

5780-438: The one used now. From 1938 to 1991, the Cyrillic script was used. Lastly, in 1991, the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow. For instance, until an Aliyev decree on the matter in 2001, newspapers would routinely write headlines in the Latin script, leaving the stories in Cyrillic. The transition has also resulted in some misrendering of İ as Ì . In Dagestan, Azerbaijani

5865-399: The outside world and the population inside Azerbaijan unaware of the intervention, but Mirza Khazar and his staff foiled this attempt. Because of the actions of Mirza Khazar and his staff at Radio Liberty, Azerbaijanis in and outside Azerbaijan, as well as the international community, learned about the actions of the Soviet Army and were able to organize a protest. Shocked by this development,

5950-408: The outskirts of the city where Soviet Minister of Defence Dmitry Yazov and Interior Minister Vadim Bakatin were positioned. On 19 January, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the decree signed by M. Gorbachev, introducing a state of emergency in Baku and some other places in the Azerbaijani SSR. The decree stated: In connection with a dramatic escalation of the situation in

6035-431: The overuse of Persian, Arabic, and European elements in both colloquial and literary language and called for a simpler and more popular style. The Soviet Union promoted the development of the language but set it back considerably with two successive script changes – from the Persian to Latin and then to the Cyrillic script – while Iranian Azerbaijanis continued to use the Persian script as they always had. Despite

6120-457: The party have been repressed by Azerbaijan governments ruled by Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev . The party has also boycotted several elections, citing an unbalanced playing field and repression by the incumbent government. The founding congress of the party was held in July 1989. PFA came to unite several informal public organizations which were established in the 1980s to struggle for

6205-419: The process of standardization of orthography started with the publication of Azerbaijani magazines and newspapers such as Varlıq ( وارلیق — Existence ) from 1979. Azerbaijani-speaking scholars and literarians showed great interest in involvement in such ventures and in working towards the development of a standard writing system. These effort culminated in language seminars being held in Tehran , chaired by

6290-619: The republic. This led to demonstrations which demanded the ousting of Azerbaijani communist officials and called for independence from the Soviet Union. Their rhetoric was, according to a Human Rights Watch report, "heavily anti-Armenian". On 12 January, the Popular Front organized a national defence committee with branches in factories and offices in Baku. The aim was to mobilize the population for battle with local Armenians. Local Azerbaijani authorities were unable to restore order because of internal quarrelling and divisions that paralyzed their ability to act. Azerbaijani authorities also ordered

6375-526: The second most spoken language in the nation. Ethnologue reports 10.9 million Iranian Azerbaijani in Iran in 2016 and 13,823,350 worldwide. Dialects of South Azerbaijani include: "Aynallu (often considered a separate language ), Karapapakh (often considered a separate language. The second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam mentions that it is close to both "Āzerī and the Turkish of Turkey". The historian George Bournoutian only mentions that it

6460-641: The spread of Azerbaijani in eastern Transcaucasia as a replacement for Persian spoken by the upper classes, and as a measure against Persian influence in the region. Between c.  1900 and 1930, there were several competing approaches to the unification of the national language in what is now the Azerbaijan Republic, popularized by scholars such as Hasan bey Zardabi and Mammad agha Shahtakhtinski . Despite major differences, they all aimed primarily at making it easy for semi-literate masses to read and understand literature . They all criticized

6545-663: The wide use of Azerbaijani in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , it became the official language of Azerbaijan only in 1956. After independence, the Republic of Azerbaijan decided to switch back to a modified Latin script. The development of Azerbaijani literature is closely associated with Anatolian Turkish, written in Perso-Arabic script . Examples of its detachment date to the 14th century or earlier. Kadi Burhan al-Din , Hasanoghlu , and Imadaddin Nasimi helped to establish Azerbaiijani as

6630-437: Was blown up by intelligence officers at 7:15 PM in order to cut off the population from any source of information. TV and radio were silent and all print media was banned. But Mirza Khazar and his staff at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty succeeded in broadcasting daily reports from Baku, making it the only source of news to Azerbaijanis within and outside of the country for several days. The Kremlin leadership tried hard to keep

6715-458: Was challenged by others, such as Aghamusa Akhundov  [ az ] , who argued that Damirchizade was taking orthography as the basis of his judgement, rather than its phonetic value. According to Akhundov, Azerbaijani contains two diphthongs, / ou̯ / and / œy̯ / , represented by ov and öv in the alphabet, both of which are phonemic due to their contrast with / o / and / œ / , represented by o and ö . In some cases,

6800-505: Was elected the leader of the opposition faction in parliament. The 2003 Azerbaijani presidential election in Azerbaijan fell short of international norms and standards. They were followed by another wave of repressions against the opposition. Consequently, PFPA first suggested and then proclaimed the unification of opposition as the surest means to free and fair elections. On 18 March 2005 Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) signed an agreement with other opposition parties to establish

6885-656: Was introduced as a language of study in Kutaisi instead of Armenian. In 1853, Azerbaijani became a compulsory language for students of all backgrounds in all of Transcaucasia with the exception of the Tiflis Governorate . Azerbaijani is one of the Oghuz languages within the Turkic language family . Ethnologue lists North Azerbaijani (spoken mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia) and South Azerbaijani (spoken in Iran, Iraq, and Syria) as two groups within

6970-560: Was necessary to stop pogroms and violence against the Armenian population and to thwart efforts by extremists to overthrow the Soviet Azerbaijani government. The government's decree said: "Extremist groups are organizing mass disorders fanning national enmity. They are committing bold criminal acts, mining roads, and bridges, shelling settlements, taking hostages." Defence Minister Yazov also said that nationalists were plotting

7055-950: Was necessary to thwart efforts by the Azerbaijani independence movement to overthrow the Soviet Azerbaijani government . According to official estimates of Azerbaijan, 147 civilians were killed, 800 people were injured, and five people went missing. In a resolution of 22 January 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR declared that the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 19 January, used to impose emergency rule in Baku and military deployment, constituted an act of aggression. In December 1989, Azerbaijanis living in regions bordering Iran ripped down border fences, demanding closer ties with ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran. The local authorities in Jalilabad surrendered to rioters, turning over administration to

7140-514: Was so out of proportion to the resistance offered by Azerbaijanis as to constitute an exercise in collective punishment. Since Soviet officials have stated publicly that the purpose of the intervention of Soviet troops was to prevent the ouster of the Communist-dominated government of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the nationalist-minded, noncommunist opposition, the punishment inflicted on Baku by Soviet soldiers may have been intended as

7225-750: Was translated into more than 30 languages. In the mid-19th century, Azerbaijani literature was taught at schools in Baku , Ganja , Shaki , Tbilisi , and Yerevan . Since 1845, it has also been taught in the Saint Petersburg State University in Russia . In 2018, Azerbaijani language and literature programs are offered in the United States at several universities, including Indiana University , UCLA , and University of Texas at Austin . The vast majority, if not all Azerbaijani language courses teach North Azerbaijani written in

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