The Impact of Pan-Turkist Policies on Azerbaijan's Relations with Iran

Prior to the Russo-Persian wars, which were resulted in the imposition of the Golestan and Turkmenchay treaties in 1813 and 1828, the Republic of Azerbaijan was part of the Iranian territory. Historical evidence shows that the separation of Azerbaijan, unlike what has been the case in many other parts of the world, did not occur as a result of domestic demands for independence. Instead, it was a result of the ambitions of an imperialist power. Subsequent developments led to the independence of Azerbaijan in 1918. This independence did not last long and in 1920 once again the country became part of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union, to be once again known as an independent state. Despite the fundamental ties between this newly established country and Iran, Azerbaijani leaders have, from the very beginning, been trying to a completely independent identity for themselves, their country, history, culture and people. This has led the Azerbaijani leaders to increasingly consider Pan-Turkist policies, causing the relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan to be relatively strained from the beginning. This article tries to answer the question as to what impacts have the Pan-Turkist policies had on Iran-Azerbaijan relations. The article argues that Azerbaijan’s Pan-Turkist policies has been the main cause of securitization of the relations between the two countries. This article adopts an explanatory method, based on analyzing library sources and documents.