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The Müsavat Party ( az, Müsavat Partiyası, from ar, مساواة ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat.


Early Musavat (1911–1923)

Musavat was founded in 1911 in Baku as a secret organization by Mammed Amin Rasulzade, Mammed Ali Rasulzade (his cousin), Abbasgulu Kazimzade, and Taghi Nagioglu. Its initial name was the Muslim 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 of Azerbaijan SSR Nariman Narimanov. This initiative was coming from Mammed Amin Rasulzade, who was then living in exile in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
. 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 and Turkic-speaking world. This thinking would ultimately result in the genocide and banishment of Christian and other groups from the collapsing Ottoman Empire. At least half of the party believed in secularism, while the other half believed that a unified Turkish Empire could only be achieved separate from Greeks, Assyrians, Armenians, Georgians, other Christians, and Yazidi. These are collectively known as the Late Ottoman genocides. Although Musavat espoused pan-Islamic ideology and its founder was sympathetic to the pan-Turkic movement, the party supported the tsarist regime during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. Russia's social democrats received 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", as a betrayal of historic proportions. The Musavat's programme, which appealed to the Azerbaijani masses and assured the party of the sympathy of the Muslims abroad, announced the following aims: # The unity of all Muslim peoples without regard to nationality or sect. # Restoration of the independence of all Muslim nations. # Extension of material and moral aid to all Muslim nations which fight for their independence. # Help to all Muslim peoples and states in offense and in defence. # The destruction of the barriers which prevent the spread of the above-mentioned ideas. # The establishment of contact with parties striving for the progress of the Muslims. # The establishment, as need might arise, of contact and exchange of opinion with foreign parties which have the well being of humanity as their aim. # The intensification of the struggle for the existence of all Muslims and the development of their commerce, trade and economic life in general. During this time, the Musavat party supported some pan-Islamist and pan-Turkist ideas. Pan-Turkic element in Musavat's ideology was a reflection of the novel ideas of the Young Turk revolution in
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
. The founders of this ideology were Azerbaijani intellectuals of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
, Ali bey Huseynzade and Ahmed-bey Agayev (known in Turkey as
Ahmet Ağaoğlu Ahmet Ağaoğlu, also known as Ahmet Bey Ağaoğlu ( az, Əhməd bəy Ağaoğlu; December 1869 – 19 May 1939), was a prominent Azerbaijani and naturalized Turkish politician, publicist and journalist. He was one of the founders of Pan-Turkis ...
), 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". 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. 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.


Early Musavat under Rasulzade leadership

After the Amnesty Act of 1913 dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, Mammed Amin Rasulzade returned to Azerbaijan and undertook party leadership. Despite the party still being secret, Rasulzade managed to found newspaper the newspaper ''Achig Soz'' (1915–1918), in which Musavat's aims and goals, this time polished and defined in Rasulzade's interpretations, were implicitly advocated. Only after the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...
, 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. The Soviet historian A. L. Popov writes that the Musavat cannot be ''a 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". On June 17, 1917, Musavat merged with the Party of Turkic Federalists, another national-democratic right-wing organization founded by Nasibbey Usubbekov and Hasan bey Agayev, taking on a new name of Musavat Party of Turkic Federalists. 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.Central state archive of the Azerbaijan Republic, f.894, op.1, storage unit 56, p. 5. # Russia has to become a federative democratic republic based on national and territorial autonomy. # Freedom of speech, conscience, stamp, unions, strikes have to be confirmed by the constitution and guaranteed by the state. # All citizens in spite of religion, nationality, gender, and political ideology are equal in front of the law. The passport system is to be annulled. Every citizen is given the right to move freely both inside the borders and outside the borders of the country. # For all workers and office workers the working day is limited with eight hours. # All state, crown, noble and private lands are distributed between peasant free. # Courts only obey the law and from now on no citizen is subject to punishment if not following the resolution of the competent authorities. # Universal free and compulsory elementary and high education. Particularly, new covenant said: :Article 1: The form of the state of Russia should be a federative democratic republic based on principles of national autonomy. :Article 3: All ethnicities having territories of compact inhabiting any part of Russia should receive national autonomy. Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkistan and Bashkortostan should receive territorial autonomy, Turks living along the Volga and the Crimean Turks should receive a
cultural autonomy Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements ...
in the case of impossibility of territorial autonomy. The Party considers as its sacred duty to support any non-Turkic ethnicities' quests for autonomy and help them. :Article 4: Ethnicities having no exact territory of compact inhabiting should receive national cultural autonomy. 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 the
Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...
(1918).


Musavat in ADR Government

After the disintegration of the Russian Empire and the Declaration of Independence, Musavat became the leading party of the newly established
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian A ...
, holding the majority of mandates in its parliaments, at first in
Azerbaijani National Council Azerbaijani National Council ( az, Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti Milli Şurası) was the first delegated legislative body of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) from 27 May 1918 to 17 June 1918 and again from 16 November 1918 to 3 December 1 ...
and then in ''Parlaman'' ("parliament"), Rasulzade being its first
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
(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 the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran. Azerbaijan became in 1918 the first
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
democracy in the Muslim world. A year later, in 1919, Azerbaijani women were granted the right to vote, before the U.S. and some European countries. The following Musavat members held positions in successive ADR governments:


First cabinet (May 28, 1918 – June 17, 1918)

* Kh. Sultanov
Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
* Mammad Hassan Hajinski
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
*
Nasib bey Yusifbeyli Nasib bey Yusif bey oghlu Yusifbeyli ( az, Nəsib bəy Yusif bəy oğlu Yusifbəyli) or Usubbeyov ( az, Usubbəyov ; 5 July 1881, Ganja - 31 May 1920) - Azerbaijani publicist, statesman and major political figure in Azerbaijan Democratic Republi ...
Minister of Finance and National Education * M. Y. JafarovMinister of Trade and Industry


Second cabinet (June 17, 1918 – December 7, 1918)

* Mammad Hassan Hajinski – Minister of Foreign Affairs * Nasib bey Yusifbeyli – Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs * Kh. Sultanov – ''
acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...
''
Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
; Envoy to
Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and ...
and
Zangezur Zangezur ( hy, Զանգեզուր) is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar I ...
* Musa bey RafiyevMinister of Social Security and Religious Affairs * Kh. KhasmammedovState Minister of Internal Affairs


Third cabinet (December 12, 1918 – March 14, 1919)

* Kh. Khasmammedov – Minister of Interior * Nasib bey Yusifbeyli – Minister of Education and Religious Affairs * Kh. Sultanov – Minister of Agriculture


Fourth cabinet (March 14, 1919 – December 22, 1919)

* Nasib bey Yusifbeyli – Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) * M. Y. Jafarov – Minister of Foreign Affairs * N. Narimanbeyli – State Inspector * Kh. Khasmammedov – Minister of the Interior


Fifth cabinet (December 12, 1919 – April 1, 1920)

* Nasib bey Yusifbeyli – Chair of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) * Mammad Hassan Hajinski – Minister of Interior * Kh. Khasmammedov – Minister of Justice * M. Rafiyev – Minister of Social Welfare and Health 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 playwright
Jafar Jabbarli Jafar Gafar oglu Jabbarly, ( az, Cəfər Qafar oğlu Cabbarlı, 20 March 1899, Khizi – 31 December 1934, Baku) was an Azerbaijani playwright, poet, director and screenwriter. Life After his father's death in 1902, Jabbarli's mother moved to Ba ...
participated. The committee's most famous action was the preparation of the Rasulzade's flight from the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
to
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
. 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 within
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
in 1923.


Musavat in exile

Activities of Musavat in exile begin at the end of 1922 and at the beginning of 1923. in order to coordinate and lead these activities Mammed 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 ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
became the center of Musavat-in-exile in the 1920s and early 30s, before moving to
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
in the late 1940s.


Members of the Foreign Bureau

* Mammed Amin Rasulzade, chairman * Mirza Bala Mammedzadeh, secretary * Khalil bey Khasmammadov, treasurer * Shafi bey Rustambeyov * Mustafa Vakilov * Mammad Sadig Akhundzadeh *


Members of the Azerbaijani National Center

* Mammed Amin Rasulzade * Khalil bey Khasmammadov * Mustafa Vakilov *
Akbar agha Sheykhulislamov Akbar agha Sheykhulislamov ( az, Əkbər ağa Şeyxülislamov; 1891 – 1961) was an Azerbaijani public figure and politician. He served in the First cabinet of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as its Minister of Agriculture and Labor. Early li ...
*
Abdulali bey Amirjanov Abdulali bey Amirjanov Shirali bey oghlu ( az, Əbdüləli bəy Əmircanov Şirəli bəy oğlu; 1870–1948) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani statesman who served as Ministry of Finance (Azerbaijan), Minister of Finance, Ministry of Taxes ( ...


Chairmen of Musavat in exile

*
Mammed Amin Rasulzade Mahammad Amin Akhund Haji Mulla Alekber oghlu Rasulzade ( az, Мәһәммәд Әмин Ахунд Һаҹы Молла Әләкбәр оғлу Рәсулзадә, italic=no, Məhəmməd Əmin Axund Hacı Molla Ələkbər oğlu Rəsulzadə, ; tr ...
(1917–1955) * Mirza Bala Mammedzadeh (1955–1959) * Kerim Oder (1959–1981) * Mammad Azer Aran (1981–1992)


Newspapers and journals published by the Musavat Party in exile

* ''Yeni Kafkasya'' journal (1923–1928),
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
* ''Azeri Turk'' journal (1928–1929), Turkey * ''Odlu Yurdu'' journal (1929–1931), Turkey * ''Bildirish'' newspaper (1930–1931), Turkey * ''Azerbaycan Yurd Bilgisi'' journal (1932–1934), Turkey * ''Istiklal'' newspaper (1932-?),
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
* ''Kurtulush'' journal (1934–1938), Germany * ''Musavat Bulleteni'' (1936-?),
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, Turkey * ''Azerbaijan'' (1952–current), Turkey


New Musavat (since 1989)

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 Isa Yunis oghlu Gambar ( Azerbaijani: ''İsa Yunis oğlu Qəmbər''), also known as Isa Gambar (born February 24, 1957), is an Azerbaijani politician and leader of the Equality Party ''(Müsavat)'', one of the opposition blocs in Azerbaijan. B ...
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 ruling
New Azerbaijan Party The New Azerbaijan Party ( az, Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası, YAP) is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan, founded on 21 November 1992 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev. After his election as President of Azerbaijan on 3 October 1993, an ...
. Due to a split between its nationalist and its liberal wing, the party failed to adopt a unified program at the October 1997 congress. At the 2000/2001 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 the 15 October 2003 presidential elections. At the parliamentary
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of November 6, 2005, it joined the
Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...
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, as well as on March 12, 2011. When Musavat applied for membership of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR, now
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, 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. The party has alleged that the Azerbaijani government has been seized by leading politicians of Kurdish, Talysh, Armenian or other ethnic groups of non-Turkic origin.Svante Cornell, ''Azerbaijan Since Independence'' (M.E. Sharpe, 2011), p. 261.


References

{{Authority control 1911 establishments in Azerbaijan 1911 establishments in the Russian Empire Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties Azerbaijani democracy movements Formerly banned political parties Islamic political parties Liberal parties in Azerbaijan Nationalist parties in Azerbaijan Pan-Islamism Pan-Turkist organizations Pre-1920 political parties in Azerbaijan Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Political parties established in 1911 Political parties in Azerbaijan Political parties of minorities in Imperial Russia Political parties of the Russian Revolution