It is well known that the largest Russian diasporas were established only recently – less than twenty years ago. Their formation was associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which resulted in nearly twenty-five million Russians and Russian-speakers being separated from their homeland virtually overnight.
The sudden demise of the Soviet Union entailed not only global geopolitical changes, but it also significantly altered the socio-ethnic map of the former Soviet space. The new political and economic realities led to a sharp outflow of the Russian-speaking population from the former Soviet republics to either Russia or to other more distant countries. The Russians who remained in these republics faced difficult choices regarding their future, as not all of them were willing or able to leave their countries of residence. Those who remained found themselves in a disadvantageous situation. Not knowing the official language of their newly independent countries, they were left out of the social and economic life of society. The main elements of survival became public organizations in the Russian diaspora.
The largest Russian diaspora in the Caucasus can be found in Azerbaijan, a region of key geopolitical importance. Azerbaijan occupies an important strategic position with its location in the eastern part of the Caucasus on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea, as well as its common land border with Russia, Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Azerbaijan is an established state with 8.5 million people (most of whom are Shia Muslims).
The origin of the Russian communities in the South Caucasus has a long history. At the end of the 18th century, Russian Cossacks emerged there, with the first wave of Russian immigration to Azerbaijan going back to the beginning of the 19th century as a result of religious dissidents relocating there from the southern Russian provinces. Among these groups were Molokans, Dukhobors and Old Believers.
In 1828, after the Russian-Persian War (1826-1828) the Treaty of Turkmenchay was signed between between the Russian Empire and Persia. According to this treaty, most of present-day Azerbaijan was ceded to Russia. Already in 1832, dissenters from the interior provinces of Russia began to resettle to the South Caucasus, after which Russian immigrants from Tambov, Saratov, Voronezh, and several other Russian provinces appeared in Azerbaijan.
The second wave of Russian migration to Azerbaijan took place at the end of the 19th century when a number of young professionals from the Russian Empire began to arrive as a result of rapid development in the petroleum industry and consequent urbanization in Azerbaijan.
When Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union, the Russian population in the republic continued to rise steadily and in 1939 reached 500,000, accounting for more than 16% of the total population. Many Russians arrived in Baku during the Great Patriotic War, as well as during the period of active growth of industrial development in the 1950s. For decades a unique community of Russian speakers existed in Baku, including the musician Mstislav Rostropovich, the singer Muslim Magomaev, the Nobel laureate Lev Landau, the actor and film director Yuri Guzman, as well as others.
In the mid-1970s, however, a weak outflow of Azerbaijan’s Russian population began to appear, as was the case in the other republics of the Caucasus. In the 1980s, this transformed into a steady and large-scale migratory outflow. In fact, “the 1980s became that period when the inertia centrifugal motion – the ‘spreading’ across the country that had been so characteristic for Russia – began to decrease. A moment of relative calm appeared, then a fracture, and then a movement in the opposite direction – a collective movement of Russians toward Russia.”
Since the early 1990s, the countries of the former Soviet Union have lost several million Russians in the migration exchange with Russia, a trend which has also affected Azerbaijan. In 1989, the population of the Russian diaspora in the Soviet republic fell to 392,000, and by the end of the 1990s, the decline of the Russian population reached 48%, standing on the threshold of 170,000.
The beginning of the 1990s was perhaps the most difficult period in the history of Russian-Azerbaijani relations in general, as well as for the Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan in particular. The percentage of the Russian population fell sharply due to domestic politics of the radical Popular Front led by Abulfaz Elchibey, which came to power at the time. The Russian language was gradually replaced by Azeri not only at the state level but also at the everyday level. It was then, in 1992, that the first organization of the Russian diaspora – the Azerbaijan-Russia Society – was established at the initiative of Mikhail Zabelin.
When Heydar Aliyev came to power in Azerbaijan in 1993, there were qualitative positive changes in policies regarding ethnic minorities, which primarily meant the Russian-speaking population. Despite the dominant role of Azeri, Russian was no longer artificially squeezed out of public life. This state of affairs was due not only to the interest expressed by Azeris in the Russian language, but also the active civil work conducted by the Russian diaspora, which had already been functioning for more than fifteen years through a number of local NGOs.
All these years the Russian diaspora continues to be headed by Mikhail Zabelin, who is now a member of parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Milli Majlis).
The largest Russian diaspora organization is Russian Community of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Operating since 1993, its main aim is to work directly with the country’s Russian population, primarily by providing advice on civil and legal issues. The organization has established ten branches in Baku, as well as in all the major cities in the country: Sumgait, Ganja, Shamakhi, Khachmaz and others (32 divisions in total). The organization has a cultural center, a business club and several commercial structures.
Another influential organization of Azerbaijan’s Russian diaspora is the Center of Russian Culture in Azerbaijan, which conducts cultural and educational work aimed at promoting the study of Russian history, culture, language, traditions and customs, as well as strengthening interethnic relations. In addition, Azerbaijan is home to such organizations as the Association of Teachers at Russian Schools of Azerbaijan, the Slavic Cultural Association, the Association of Russian Youth of Azerbaijan, International Center for Russian-speaking Youth, and others. Russian-language Olympics are conducted for students in secondary schools.
The Russian Orthodox Church occupies a very strong position in Azerbaijan. On December 28, 1998, the Baku-Caspian diocese was restored, which became the 128th diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, comprising Orthodox parishes in Azerbaijan, Dagestan and Chechnya. There are eight Orthodox churches in Azerbaijan, five of which are located in Baku (the largest is the Cathedral of the Myrrhbearers, which was reopened only at the end of the 20th century). There are three churches in other cities: Ganja, Sumgait and Khachmaz. During his visit to Azerbaijan, Patriarch Alexy II said the following: “The establishment of the Baku-Caspian diocese was an important event for Orthodox believers in Azerbaijan and has facilitated dialogue between the Muslim and Orthodox communities in the country.” The patriarch praised the friendly relations toward Russians in Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the presence of the Russian community there is “an important factor in cultural interaction.”
There is also a fraternity of Cossacks in Azerbaijan, which has been in existence since 1994 and which brings together approximately 1,500 Cossack descendants. As mentioned above, the Cossacks appeared in Azerbaijan earlier than other ethnic Russian groups – after the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791 Russian Cossacks began appearing on Azerbaijani lands. Today, the fraternity is led by Hetman V.V. Mereshkin and maintains close ties with the Kuban and Siberian Cossacks, as well as the Union of Cossacks of Russia. It is active in Azerbaijan, having its own youth organization.
Despite the abundance of Russian organizations, their structure, the presence of strong ties with Russia and a generally good situation in the country, the Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan does experience some difficulties as a national minority, especially outside the big cities. These problems are the same that affect the rest of the country’s population, for example, the problem of employment. Perhaps the main obstacle to full integration in Azerbaijani society for the Russian population is the near complete lack of knowledge of the state language. Ignorance of Azeri prevents Russian-speaking citizens from better adapting to life in the country and from engaging in more active social and political activities, including in the various political parties and movements. It also creates difficulties in finding employment, as many institutions and companies require knowledge of Azeri as a precondition for employment.
The Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan has more specific problems as well. Sixty percent of the country’s Russian population is made up of older people. The Russian youth who grew up in Azerbaijan play a clearly insufficient role in the country’s economic development. There is also a problem concerning a lack of specialized professional literature in Russian for students and academics. At the same time, the scope of Russian is also being subjected to limitation. With the enactment of the Law on the Official Language of the Republic of Azerbaijan on September 30, 2002, all public proceedings must be fully translated into Azeri. In addition, since January 1, 2008, television channels with exclusive Russian broadcasting no longer exist in Azerbaijan, which will undoubtedly have a negative effect on the situation with the country’s Russian community.
And yet, with regard to the most painful matter for the Russian diaspora in the former Soviet Union – the problem of the Russian language – the difficulties experienced elsewhere do not exist in Azerbaijan, at least not in the larger cities. In Azerbaijan, one rarely encounters problems with spoken Russian, and a number of print media are published in Russian. The main television channels host regular programs in Russian, and the S. Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre hosts regular performances.
It should be noted that since Azerbaijan's independence (as opposed to their neighbors in the South Caucasus) not one Russian school has been closed despite the decreased number of Russian classes. Parents are therefore able to choose Russian as the primary language for their children from the first grade. The leading universities offer classes in a variety of specialties that are taught in Russian; some of the universities have Russian divisions. We should note Heydar Aliyev’s presidential decree on June 13, 2000 that established the Baku Slavic University (BSU), which offers Slavic language studies. Honorary doctorates from the university were awarded to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, and Federation Council Chairman Sergey Mironov. Russian continues to be actively used among young people and intellectuals.
In general, according to the head of Azerbaijan’s Russian community, Mikhail Zabelin, “the general attitude toward Russians in Azerbaijan is favorable ... And we welcome the state’s current policy, which prevents aggravation of nationalist manifestations in the country.”
