Musavat Party Müsavat Firqəsi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Isa Gambar |
| Founders | Mahammad Amin Rasulzade Mahammad Ali Rasulzade Abbasgulu Kazimzade Taghi Naghiyev |
| Founded | 1911; 114 years ago (1911) |
| Ideology | Liberalism[1] Civic nationalism Faction: Elchibeyism Historical: Pan-Turkism[2][3] Pan-Islamism[2][3] Anti-communism |
| Political position | Centre |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party |
| Colors | Blue |
| National Assembly of Azerbaijan | 0 / 125 |
| Website | |
| musavat | |
TheMüsavat Party (Azerbaijani:Müsavat Firqəsi, fromArabic:مساواةmusāwāt,lit. 'equality' or'parity') is the oldest existingpolitical party inAzerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat.
The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 and 2000 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan by theHeydar Aliyev regime. At the time, the party was one of major opposition parties in the country.[4][5]
Musavat was founded in 1911 inBaku as a secret organization byMahammad Amin Rasulzade, Mahammad Ali Rasulzade (his cousin), Abbasgulu Kazimzade, and Taghi Nagioglu. Its initial name was theMuslim Democratic Musavat Party. The first members were Veli Mikayiloghlu, Seyid Huseyn Sadig, Abdurrahim bey, Yusif Ziya bey and Seyid Musavi bey. Early Musavat members also included future Communist leader ofAzerbaijan SSRNariman Narimanov.[6] This initiative was coming from Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, who was then living inexile inIstanbul.[7]
In its early years before the First World War, Musavat was a relatively small, secret underground organization, much like its counterparts throughout the Middle East, working for the prosperity and political unity of the Muslim andTurkic-speaking world.[8] Although Musavat espoused pan-Islamic ideology and its founder was sympathetic to the pan-Turkic movement, the party supported thetsarist regime during theFirst World War.[9] Russia's social democrats perceived the foundation of Musavat in what they considered "imperial, orientalist terms, governed by the long-standing ideological categories of Muslim backwardness, treachery and religious fanaticism",[10] as a betrayal of historic proportions.
Musavat's programme, which appealed to the Azerbaijani masses and assured the party of the sympathy of the Muslims abroad, announced the following aims:[11]
During this time, the Musavat party supported some pan-Islamist and pan-Turkist ideas.[12][13][14][15][16] Pan-Turkic element in Musavat's ideology was a reflection of the novel ideas of theYoung Turk revolution inOttoman Empire. The founders of this ideology were Azerbaijani intellectuals of theRussian Empire,Ali bey Huseynzade andAhmed-bey Agayev (known in Turkey asAhmet Ağaoğlu), whose literary works used the linguistic unity of Turkic-speaking peoples as a factor for the national awakening of various nationalities inhabiting the Russian Empire.
The Menshevik and Social Revolutionary parties of Baku, both largely dependent upon the support of selected Georgian, Armenian and Jewish cadres, as well as upon the ethnic Russian workers, had long vilified the Muslims as "inert" and "unconscious".[8] For them as well as for Bolsheviks, Constitutional Democrats and Denikinists, the Musavat, by default, was the false friend of social democracy, just a party of feudal "beks and khans". These accusations, centerpieces of a paranoid style in social-democratic politics, have endured in the historical literature far beyond their origins.[8] But this form of attitude also alienated predominant Muslim groups from Russia's mainstream social democrats, as Musavat's shifting politics and populist slogans started receiving bigger appeal among the Muslim worker audience. Musavat leaders were largely well-educated professionals from the upper class echelons of Azeri society; its mass membership, most recruited between 1917 and 1919, comprised the poorly-educated Muslims underclass of Baku.[8]
After the Amnesty Act of 1913 dedicated to the300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, Mahammad Amin Rasulzade returned to Azerbaijan and undertook party leadership. Despite the party still being secret, Rasulzade managed to found newspaper the newspaperAchig Soz (1915–1918), in which Musavat's aims and goals, this time polished and defined in Rasulzade's interpretations, were implicitly advocated. Only after theFebruary Revolution, when Musavat ceased to be a secret organization and became a legal political party did the newspaper officially become the party's organ.
The Baku Committee of Muslim Social Organizations, as well as the Musavat, were quite radical during the early days of the February Revolution: they wanted a democratic republic, which would guarantee the rights of Muslims.[17] The Soviet historian A. L. Popov writes that the Musavat cannot bea priori classified as a reactionary party of Khans and Beks, because in the early revolutionary period the Musavat stood on the positions of democracy and even socialism. "Until a certain time the Baku Committee of Muslim Social Organizations and the Musavat party successfully fulfilled the mission not only of representing the general national interests but also of guiding the Azerbaijani workers' democracy".[18]
On June 17, 1917, Musavat merged with theParty of Turkic Federalists, another national-democratic right-wing organization founded byNasibbey Usubbekov andHasan bey Agayev, taking on a new name of Musavat Party of Turkic Federalists.[11] Thus, Musavat became the main political force of Caucasian Muslims.
In October 1917 Musavat convoked in its first congress where it adopted a new covenant, with 76 articles.[19]
Particularly, new covenant[20] said:
During the period from February until November 1917, Musavat shared the idea of federalism without separating from Russia. In accordance with the doctrine accepted by the Special Transcaucasian Committee (OZAKOM) the Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani territories were authorised to rule independent domestic policy, leaving to the Provisional Russian government only foreign affairs, army and defense, and customs. However, Musavat as well as the other Muslim unions got quickly disappointed in cooperation with the Provisional Government, as it had no wish to delegate to the Muslim territories more independence.
Having got the news about the October Revolution in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) Transcaucasia did not accept the new Bolshevik power. In February 1918 Transcaucasian Council ("Sejm") started its work in Tbilisi. Musavat entered the Sejm as one of the ruling parties, having 30 deputies of 125. The other parties represented in the new institution were Georgian mensheviks (32 deputies) and Armenian "dashnaks" (27 deputies). At this stage, Musavat started propagating the pan-Islamist and pan-Turkish ideas and aimed at the creation of a United Muslim State under the protection of Turkey (Ottoman Empire). The majority of the Party's members were merchants, white-collars and partially peasantry.
Musavat became the tenth largest party elected to theRussian Constituent Assembly (1918).[21]
After the disintegration of the Russian Empire and the Declaration of Independence, Musavat became the leading party of the newly establishedAzerbaijan Democratic Republic, holding the majority of mandates in its parliaments, at first inAzerbaijani National Council and then inParlaman ("parliament"), Rasulzade being its firsthead of state (28 May 1918 – 7 December 1918). Under the Musavat's leadership, the name "Azerbaijan" was adopted; a name that prior to the proclamation of the ADR was solely used to refer to theadjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran.[22][23][24] Azerbaijan became in 1918 the firstsecular democracy in the Muslim world. A year later, in 1919, Azerbaijani women were granted the right to vote,[25] before the U.S. and some European countries.
The following Musavat members held positions in successiveADR governments:
After the fall of the First Republic in April 1920 as a result of the Bolshevik invasion, Musavat switched to secret activities again, by forming a secret committee, in which even famous Azeri playwrightJafar Jabbarli participated. The committee's most famous action was the preparation of the Rasulzade's flight from theRussian SFSR toFinland. Overall, Musavat prepared and conducted several armed insurgency operations, e.g. the rebellions of Ganja, Karabakh, Zagatala, and Lankaran. But the Soviets also repressed Musavat by arresting at least 2,000 members of Musavat up to 1923. Most prominent Musavat members thus were killed, exiled, or escaped abroad and the party ceased all its activities withinAzerbaijan in 1923.
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Activities of Musavat in exile begin at the end of 1922 and at the beginning of 1923. in order to coordinate and lead these activitiesMahammad Amin Rasulzade established a Foreign Bureau of Musavat in 1923, but also created the Azerbaijani National Center in order to coordinate their activity with other Azeri political immigrants not affiliated with Musavat.Istanbul became the center of Musavat-in-exile in the 1920s and early 30s, before moving toAnkara in the late 1940s.
The resurrection of Musavat in Azerbaijan came in 1989, during the second independence of Azerbaijan. A group of intellectuals created the "Azerbaijan National Democratic New Musavat Party". Later that group formed the "Restoration Center of the Musavat Party" and was recognized by Musavat-in-exile. In 1992 delegates of New Musavat and Musavat-in-exile gathered in the "III Congress of Musavat" and formally re-established the party as the Musavat Party. One of the leaders of the Popular Front,Isa Gambar was elected its chairman. He remains its leader as of 2013. The party structure consists of "Başqan" (Leader), "Divan" (Executive Board), and "Məclis" (Congress).
Since 1993, Musavat has been in the opposition to the rulingNew Azerbaijan Party. Due to a split between its nationalist and itsliberal wing, the party failed to adopt a unified program at the October 1997 congress.[26] At the2000/2001 elections, the party won 4.9% of the popular vote and two out of 125 seats. As the party's candidate, its leader Isa Qambar won 12.2% of the popular vote in the15 October 2003 presidential elections. At the parliamentaryelections of November 6, 2005, it joined theFreedom alliance and won inside the alliance five seats. Musavat is also known for its protests against the Azerbaijani government such as that took place on October 16, 2003, after Isa Qambar had lost the election,[27] as well as on March 12, 2011.[28]
When Musavat applied for membership of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR, nowAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, ALDE), some members considered Musavat's ideology to be incompatible with Western liberalism. Board member Nasib Nasibli even resigned, stating that the party was committed to Turkic nationalism rather than liberalism. Nevertheless, Musavat was eventually admitted to ELDR.[29]
The party has alleged that the Azerbaijani government has been seized by leading politicians ofKurdish,Talysh,Armenian or other ethnic groups of non-Turkic origin.[30]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–1996 | Isa Gambar | 1 / 125 | New |  9th | Opposition | ||
| 2000–2001 | 4.9 | 2 / 125 | 1 | 5th | Opposition | ||
| 2005 | 5 / 125 | 3 | 2nd | Opposition | |||
| 2010 | 47,942 | 2.01 | 0 / 125 |  5 |  2nd | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2015 | Arif Hajili | 24,995 | 0.88 | 0 / 125 | 1 | 6th | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2020 | 38,714 | 1.66 | 0 / 125 | 0 | 2nd | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2024 | Isa Gambar | 15,278 | 0.64 | 0 / 125 | 0 | 5th | Extra-parliamentary |
M.A. Resuloğlu (1962). "Müsavat Partisinin kuruluşu",Müsavat bülteni, 14, İstanbul, 10
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Until 1918, when the Musavat regime decided to name the newly independent state Azerbaijan, this designation had been used exclusively to identify theIranian province of Azerbaijan.
The region to the north of the river Araxes was not called Azerbaijan prior to 1918, unlike the region in northwestern Iran that has been called since so long ago.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)| International | |
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