Əlirza Quluncu (Alirza Quluncu) - December 11, 2014
“21 Azar” researcher Alirza Miyanalı spoke to Voice of America.
Alirza Miyanalı states that during the period of the Azerbaijan National Government established in 1945-46, poets had more influence in society than politicians.
In an interview with Voice of America, Miyanalı, a poet and writer, discussed the personality and works of Hashim Terlan, one of the founders of the Azerbaijan National Government who passed away last November, and evaluated the role of literary figures in establishing and managing the national government, as well as in conveying its values to new generations after its downfall.
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| Poet Hashim Terlan (1923-2014) |
The author of Land Measured by Weapon, which explains the period of the Azerbaijan National Government, emphasizes that poets and writers who wrote in Turkish in southern Azerbaijan during 1945-46 played a crucial role in various fields of the national government and held important positions.
“The line of the movement in socio-political currents begins with literature. Because the political essence is not visible within literature, states do not obstruct it... Many social movements in Azerbaijan began in this way,” Miyanalı points out that the influence of poets and writers in Azerbaijani history is not limited to the period of the national government.
According to Alirza Miyanalı, poets were most active in the propaganda efforts of the National Government and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party.
“Propaganda work among the people was mainly carried out by poets and writers. Writers were usually more visible in society than politicians because political activities were often conducted more secretly,” asserts the southern poet living in Vancouver, Canada.
He points to the public character and activities of the poet Mohammad Biriya, who served as the Minister of Education in the Azerbaijan National Government.
“For example, Biriya is referred to as a 'tribunal poet.' He delivered speeches at tribunes, and the people knew and accepted him well. In fact, I would say that the people knew Biriya better than Seyyed Jafar Pishevari. Pishevari's influence was among the intellectuals and participants of the movement, whereas poets like Biriya were influential within the community,” the researcher and writer expresses.
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| Poet Mohammad Biriya, Minister of Education of the Azerbaijan National Government. |
“The National Government began to publish around 50 newspapers in various cities, and Turkish-language programs were broadcast on the radio. Poets and writers were needed to work in these areas. Government leader Seyyed Jafar Pishevari also emphasized that the press should be in the mother tongue,” Miyanalı points out the extensive activities of poets in media outlets.
According to Alirza Miyanalı, poets who participated in the national government, like Hashim Terlan, who passed away at the age of 91, kept the memory of the government alive after its downfall. He states that the efforts of the national government poets were extremely important and vital.
“The national consciousness can be preserved by reiterating it. Today, others repeat falsehoods about our history and identity. There are even disputes over the name of our language, with some calling it Azeri and others Azerbaijani Turkish, while we have heard it in Turkish from our mothers,” the researcher notes that the preservation of the memory of the national government is crucial today due to the lack of a national state and educational institutions in southern Azerbaijan.
In his conversation with Voice of America, Miyanalı also reads a poem he wrote in memory of his close friend, whom he describes as “elderly but with a youthful heart,” the late Hashim Terlan:
A crane departed from its flock
Took me back to distant pasts
In the end, I did not set out after it
It left, tearing me away from myself.
It tore me away and took me to a place
Where my path crossed into the world of tales
On this road, my heart was mobilized
I had no need for the world of reason...
There is no one like him to tie
His wing to the crane’s flock
Though reason may give up, until the end
Only his heart lived its stubbornness.
...
Hashim Terlan, a member of the Poets' Council of the time, who was part of the Azerbaijan National Government in 1945-46, passed away in Tehran on November 16.
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