Continuation of our series on the fall of the USSR. Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union saw its last hours. The Soviet Socialist Republics take turns declaring their independence. Among them, Azerbaijan on August 30, 1991. In Istanbul, our correspondent Anne Andlauer met Elvin, a young Azerbaijani with strong opinions on the USSR, its dissolution and the relations to be maintained with today’s Russia.
From our correspondent in Istanbul
Elvin Abdurahmanli receives guests in the three-room apartment which serves as his office, in a three-piece suit that is not enough to make forget his youthful features. Elvin was born in Chaki, in northern Azerbaijan, in 1993. He therefore knew neither the Soviet Union nor its break-up. All he knows about this story is what his parents – a mother librarian, a father in tourism – may have told him. He considers himself happy to have been born in an independent Azerbaijan.
” The Soviet period was very difficult, he explains. For example, we could not freely practice our religion or celebrate our traditions, such as Ramadan or the holiday of Novrouz – very important in Azerbaijan, but which was prohibited. We couldn’t study or travel freely. And those who were authorized to travel were questioned upon their return by the KGB. The Soviet Union has made us very weak. I think his breakup was a good thing. “
Elvin Abdurahmanli recounts almost as if they had experienced the clashes of January 20, 1990, ” January Black In Baku, Soviet tanks in the city. This event was a turning point for the country, which proclaimed its independence a year and a half later, on August 30, 1991. From these accounts, Elvin derived a deep distrust of the Russian neighbor. This does not prevent him from being realistic.
” We must maintain a diplomatic balance, and not forget that Russia still has a great influence in the Caucasus, he emphasizes. But she must never again see Azerbaijan as her backyard. However, it is clear that the Russian Federation still believes that certain States of the Caucasus belong to it. Look at the Crimea: to me it was an invasion of Ukraine. “
” Maintain a balance with Russia “
Ten years ago Elvin Abdurahmanli left Azerbaijan to study in Turkey. Now a doctoral student in international relations at the Marmara Public University in Istanbul, he believes that Azerbaijan has no major problems with the former countries of the Soviet bloc, to which he says he feels close from a cultural point of view. . With one exception: Armenia.
Elvin applauded Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020, with Turkish backing: “ This is another reason why we must maintain a balance with Russia, he insists. If we don’t, our relations will deteriorate even more with Armenia, there will be other wars… I don’t want any more war… Nagorno-Karabakh is ours, we had all the rights to take it back and we will protect it until the end . Now we have to preserve peace and balance, which also includes balance with the western world, the United States. “
In Istanbul, the young man chairs an NGO supporting young Azerbaijanis in the city. He dreams of the future in the service of his native country. In a few years, Elvin Abdurahmanli would see himself as a diplomat, if possible in Turkey.
► Read also : 1917-1991, history of the Soviet Union in 15 dates