Forced assimilation in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has had a deliberate policy of forced assimilation of ethnic minorities since Soviet times (Azerbaijan SSR) and up to the present. Non-Turkic peoples, such as Talyshis, Lezgins, Tats and others have been subjected to forced Azerbaijanization (Turkification).

In Soviet period the policy was carried out by:^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

proclaiming non-Turkic Muslim peoples of Azerbaijan SSR as ethnic groups of the Turkic Azerbaijani people
manipulating population censuses
constantly emphasizing on a commonality of history and closeness of cultures, including in academic publications.

^ O'Keeffe, Brigid (2022). The Multiethnic Soviet Union and its Demise. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 9781350136793. In postwar Azerbaijan, republican leaders moved aggressively to fully nationalize their republic—to create an Azerbaijan for Azeris and of Azeris first and foremost. In schools, the Azerbaijani language was privileged over all other non-Russian languages natively spoken by the peoples of Azerbaijan. Everyone who lived in Azerbaijan was expected to assimilate to the language and culture of the titular Azeris. Azeri census-takers, meanwhile, statistically "assimilated" minority groups to the Azeri majority by denying them the opportunity to identify themselves as belonging to any other ethnic group. In this manner of manipulating census results in order to statistically homogenize Azerbaijan, the Talysh population of Azerbaijan—numbered at 87,510 in the 1939 Soviet census—was whittled down to a mere eighty-five persons in the 1959 census.
^ Kolga et al. 2001, THE TALYSH (OR THE TALISHI): This policy was relatively easy to act on with peoples of the Islamic faith, as they were simply proclaimed to be an ethnic group of the Azerbaijani people. This is borne out by the census policy which simply left several minorities of different languages unregistered. Therefore, the 1959 and following censuses do not mention the Talysh."
^ Kolga et al. 2001, THE TATS: "The process was accelerated in recent years, however, when the covert but purposeful assimilation of all minorities living on the territory of the republic became the aim and policy of the Azerbaijani SSR. This is illustrated, for example, by the constant stressing of a common history and closeness of culture (even in academic publications)."
^ Kolga et al. 2001, KURDS: "Kurdish identity is most endangered in Azerbaijan. In recent decades the Azerbaijani authorities have been attempting to assimilate all ethnic minorities. In the absence of religious differences they have succeeded. The Kurdish language is not officially used and during censuses the Kurds have been recorded as Azerbaijanis."

[1] O'Keeffe, Brigid (2022). The Multiethnic Soviet Union and its Demise. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 9781350136793. In postwar Azerbaijan, republican leaders moved aggressively to fully nationalize their republic—to create an Azerbaijan for Azeris and of Azeris first and foremost. In schools, the Azerbaijani language was privileged over all other non-Russian languages natively spoken by the peoples of Azerbaijan. Everyone who lived in Azerbaijan was expected to assimilate to the language and culture of the titular Azeris. Azeri census-takers, meanwhile, statistically "assimilated" minority groups to the Azeri majority by denying them the opportunity to identify themselves as belonging to any other ethnic group. In this manner of manipulating census results in order to statistically homogenize Azerbaijan, the Talysh population of Azerbaijan—numbered at 87,510 in the 1939 Soviet census—was whittled down to a mere eighty-five persons in the 1959 census.

[2] Kolga et al. 2001, THE TALYSH (OR THE TALISHI): This policy was relatively easy to act on with peoples of the Islamic faith, as they were simply proclaimed to be an ethnic group of the Azerbaijani people. This is borne out by the census policy which simply left several minorities of different languages unregistered. Therefore, the 1959 and following censuses do not mention the Talysh."

[3] Kolga et al. 2001, THE TATS: "The process was accelerated in recent years, however, when the covert but purposeful assimilation of all minorities living on the territory of the republic became the aim and policy of the Azerbaijani SSR. This is illustrated, for example, by the constant stressing of a common history and closeness of culture (even in academic publications)."

[4] Kolga et al. 2001, KURDS: "Kurdish identity is most endangered in Azerbaijan. In recent decades the Azerbaijani authorities have been attempting to assimilate all ethnic minorities. In the absence of religious differences they have succeeded. The Kurdish language is not officially used and during censuses the Kurds have been recorded as Azerbaijanis."

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