Əlirza Quluncu (Alirza Quluncu) - December 11, 2017
.jpg) |
| Dr. Shapur Ansari |
Renowned surgeon recounts memories from the era of the Autonomous National Government of Azerbaijan [Part One]
Shapur Ansari, who lived through the period of the Azerbaijani National Government established under Seyyed Jafar Pishevari's leadership in 1945-46, shared his memories of those years in an interview with Voice of America. Currently recognized as a skilled cardiothoracic surgeon in the United States, Ansari was in third grade when the national government was formed. His father was a local landowner known as a minor landlord in the region.
Reflecting on the socio-political events in Iranian Azerbaijan before the establishment of the national government in December 1945, Ansari recalls those times as the first important memories of his childhood:
 |
| The Red Army in the Streets of Tabriz - September 1941 |
"I was 5 years old when Soviet planes attacked Iran. They were bombing Maragheh. We woke up early in the morning. That incident is my earliest significant childhood memory. I was young and not yet in school when the Soviet army arrived, but I witnessed those events and the changes. Everyone did. There was displacement. The townspeople scattered, fleeing to villages and gardens. There wasn't an open shop or store anywhere. Martial law had been declared," Ansari describes the days of August 1941 when the Soviet Army entered Iranian Azerbaijan.
Much had changed in our cities before the establishment of the National Government
The renowned surgeon recalls that at the age of five, he watched with excitement the concerts, parades, and political rallies organized in the streets of his hometown Maragheh, located south of Tabriz:
"One or two years before the establishment of the Democratic Party, many changes had already taken place in the city. There were numerous rallies, concerts, and parades. Women in modern attire especially stood out, chanting slogans and singing anthems as they marched. We children would follow them. I don’t remember the slogans, but they sang with great emotion. There was a square in the city center called Khan Bath Square. That’s where rallies and speeches took place. It was close to our home. My friends and I would go to those rallies. The speeches were so fervent and passionate that I would memorize them and go home to recite them."
 |
| Razieh Shabani Ibrahimizadeh, a member of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, passed away in 2013. |
The influence of the Central Iranian Government gradually diminished in the region
Shapur Ansari notes that even before the formation of the Azerbaijani National Government, Tehran's control over the region was not strong.
"I remember that the Iranian government wanted to declare martial law. But the Soviets said they had no right to do so, as this was a war zone, and order was in their hands... Everything was under Soviet control. We didn’t immediately feel the establishment of the National Government. However, they gradually took over the government institutions. Even before the national government was established, the central government’s governor and other officials had little power. Later, I learned that the governor of Maragheh had to seek permission from the Soviets to leave the city. In other words, from 1941 to 1945, the central government's influence gradually disappeared," he recounts.
According to Ansari, during those years, the primary concern for the Soviet forces was the war with Germany: "When I think about it, I see that the Russians didn’t really care about what was happening in Iran. They were focused on saving their own skins. They were concerned about their own security and the threat from Germany..."
He emphasizes that the local population was not subjected to oppression or suffering by the Soviet Army: "Sometimes, when I look at what happened in Iraq and Syria, I think about it. Whatever the reason was, the Soviet forces were kind to the people. They didn’t kill any civilians. They didn’t harass the women. Why was this? Now, I think to myself that perhaps many of these soldiers had come from the Azerbaijan Republic, and it was Mir Jafar Baghirov’s order [to treat the people well]. Or maybe it was the communist mentality that they didn’t have hostility towards us and had only come to defeat the Germans."
 |
| Seyyed Jafar Pishevari |
Peasants Joined the Fedayi Forces
Shapur Ansari was already in school by the winter of 1945 when the Azerbaijani National Government was established. He was in the third grade at the time. Although he did not fully perceive the formation of the government as adults did, he witnessed peasants joining the Fedayi forces (the National Government's armed units).
The impact of peasants joining the Fedayi forces was also clearly felt in the Ansari family, who were known as "minor landlords."
Mr. Ansari says, “We knew that some of the peasants had become Fedayi. My father was a minor landlord. The peasants had a certain respect for landlords and noblemen (the 'aga'). Suddenly, that respect began to disappear. Some of the peasants who became Fedayi would come to our house with rifles and sit at the head of the gathering. Until then, those peasants would not have sat at the head without permission. Becoming a Fedayi gave them such confidence that they would come and sit there. Of course, they spoke respectfully to us. They would say, 'We will liberate the country.' I was a child and would listen. When the Fedayi captured Tabriz, those peasants from our village were among them…”
Speeches in Turkish Delighted Me
According to Shapur Ansari, the publication of newspapers and announcements in Turkish, the delivery of speeches, and, later on, the teaching of Turkish in schools brought joy to the people.
“Teaching Turkish didn’t begin in the year the National Government was formed. But everything was in Turkish. There were speeches at schools. I would memorize these speeches. Since it was in our own language, it delighted me. I would come home and recite them. Some words were used that I didn’t understand. My mother would say, ‘Be quiet, these words aren’t suitable for you; why are you saying them?’ But even if I didn’t understand the meaning, the way they spoke with such emotion made the people applaud. It affected me,” Ansari recalls.
He adds, “Up until then, since Reza Shah’s time, our language was forbidden. No one could write in Turkish. Those who spoke Turkish in schools were fined. Older students were even beaten. Then the Soviet army arrived. A foreign occupying force came, and within a few months, there was freedom. There was music, there were speeches. People were not afraid. Newspapers in Turkish came out. This brought a kind of pleasure to the people. But the presence of the Russians caused suspicion. I saw this within my own family.”
 |
| Leaders and members of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (S.C. Pishevari in the center of the picture) |
The Party Was Branded as Russian and Discredited
“Although the Turkish language delighted the people, the presence of the Russians raised suspicions,” says Shapur Ansari, attributing this to crimes committed by Russian soldiers in the past.
“There were very bad memories of the Russians. My father would always talk about his childhood, how his sister had died, and his mother was injured. He would say, ‘When the Russians came the first time…’ and ‘When the Russians came the second time…’ During the Constitutional Movement or other periods, those areas were like a backyard for the Russians. Sometimes they would come and occupy… Because of this, [the people] were fearful. What was the Democratic Party’s purpose? What did they want to achieve? People didn’t understand these things. Influential figures branded the party as Russian and discredited it in the eyes of the people.”
Land Reform in the Villages
As the child of a landowner, Shapur Ansari also has memories of the land reforms carried out during the Azerbaijani National Government:
“The government didn’t have the opportunity to divide up all the lands. We had two types of lands. There were ‘hampaliks,’ which were in the hands of the peasants. They would cultivate them and, during harvest time, divide one-third or one-fifth of the yield and give it to my father. Then we had lands that were directly under our control, orchards, apple groves, and forests. My father managed these himself. He would hire a few people each year as workers, who would receive a salary to manage these lands. These lands were left untouched. However, the peasants took control of the hampaliks and claimed ownership. All of our food supplies came from these hampaliks—wheat, nuts, and so on. There was an order from the Democratic Party that the peasants should not give anything to the landowners. But my father had a good reputation… The peasants sent us several loads of flour, nuts, and coal in the dark of night.”
“In other words, the position of my family and those like us was understandably one of opposition to the Democratic Party,” adds Shapur Ansari.