The issue of the Azeri minority in relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran

ABSTRACT: The fact of Azerbaijan‟s separation into two parts as the result of wars between Russia and Iran in 1804-1813 and 1826-1828, still remains an important factor in the political and social life in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Now, Azeris constitute 90.6 per cent of the 9.4 million citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to various sources Azeris account for one fourth to one third of 77 million Iranian citizens. After Azerbaijan re-gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and appeared on the international scene as the only independent state representing Azeris, the issue of relations with southern brethren prevailed in the political discourse of Baku officialdom. The thesis examines Azerbaijan‟s foreign policy towards the Azeri minority in Iran since 1991, the dynamics of the shifts and dramatic changes in this policy and the extent to which it was influenced by the domestic public opinion and regional and international developments. To this end, the ethno-nationalistic policies conducted by President Elchibey in regard to Iranian Azeris, from 1992 to 1993, more pragmatic policies of Heydar Aliyev lasting from 1993 to 2003 and based on a kind of civic nationalism due to the ongoing state of war with Armenia and Ilham Aliyev‟s mostly multi-cultural policies are analysed. The qualitative research method was utilized to clarify the issue of the scope of the impact of the issue of the Azeri minority in relations between Baku and Tehran. Additionally, based on primary sources in Azeri and Persian, as well as secondary sources in English, Azeri, Turkish and Persian various methods of analysis, including comparative, conceptual and content analysis were used to have the full picture of the nature of the developments. The conclusion made in the thesis suggests that the impact of the issue of Iranian Azeris on mutual relations has declined and that in different geo-political situations the Republic of Azerbaijan tried to utilize various political approaches to achieve its foreign policy goals regarding Iranian Azeris. Keywords: Iranian Azeris, Azerbaijan, Iran, ethnic nationalism, minority rights. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………