lezgians astir in azerbaijan and daghestan lezghis astir by nejla sammakia associated press writer gussar azerbaijan ap the lezghis of azerbaijan and russia have begun clamoring for their own state threatening turmoil in a tranquil corner of the caucasus the region has escaped the ethnic warfare of neighboring nagorno karabakh abkhazia and ossetia but lezhgis could become the next minority in the former soviet union to fight for independence lezghis who are muslim descendents of nomadic shepherds are angry about the conscription of their young men to fight in azerbaijan s year old undeclared war with armenia they also want to unite the lezghi regions of azerbaijan and russia which were effectively one until the breakup of the soviet union created national borders that had been only lines on a map a rally of more than lezghis in march to protest conscription and demand a separate lezghistan alarmed the azerbaijani government officials in baku the capital deny rumors that police shot six demonstrators to death but the government announced strict security measures and began cooperating with russian authorities to control the movement of lezhgis living across the border in the dagestan region of russia visitors to gussar the center of lezhgi life found the town quiet soon after the protest children played outdoors in the crisp mountain air at the sunday bazaar men in heavy coats and dark fur hats gathered to discuss grievances ranging from high customs duties at the russian border to a war they say is not theirs i have been drafted but i won t go said shamil kadimov gold teeth glinting in the sun why must i fight a war for the azerbaijanis i have nothing to do with armenia more than people have died in the war which centers on the disputed territory of nagorno karabakh about miles to the southeast malik kerimov an official in the mayor s office said only of locals drafted in had served the police don t force people to go he said they are afraid of an uprising that could be backed by lezghis in dagestan all the men agreed that police had not fired at the demonstrators but disagreed on how the protest came about some said it occurred spontaneously when rumors spread that azerbaijan was about to draft men from the gussar region where lezghis live others said the rally was ordered by gen muhieddin kahramanov leader of the lezhgi underground separatist movement sadval based in dagestan we organized the demonstration when families came to us distraught about draft orders said kerim babayev a mathematics teacher who belongs to sadval we hope to reunite peacefully by approaching everyone the azerbaijanis the russians in the early th century the lezhgis formed two khanates or sovereignties in what are now azerbaijan and dagestan they roamed freely with their sheep over the green hills and mountains between the two khanates by the lezghi areas were joined to czarist russia after they came under soviet rule with the disintegration of the soviet union the lezghis were faced for the first time with strict borders about half remained in dagestan and half in newly independent azerbaijan we have to pay customs on all this on cars on wine complained mais talibov a small trader his goods laid out on the ground at the bazaar included brandy stomach medication and plastic shoes from dagestan we want our own country he said we want to be able to move about easily but baku won t listen to us physically it is hard for outsiders to distinguish lezhgis from other azerbaijanis in many villages they live side by side working at the same jobs and intermarrying to some degree but the lezhgis have a distinctive language a mixture of arabic turkish and persian with strong guttural vowels azerbaijan officially supports the cultural preservation of its largest ethnic minorities the lezghis have weekly newspapers and some elementary school classes in their language autonomy is a different question if the lezghis succeeded in separating from azerbaijan they would set a precedent for other minorities such as the talish in the south the tats in the nearby mountains and the avars of eastern azerbaijan david davidian dbd urartu sdpa org how do we explain turkish troops on s d p a center for regional studies the armenian border when we can t p o box even explain cambridge ma turkish mp march
