Federal Lezghi
National and Cultural Autonomy

 

The Talysh department of Iranian IRIB News Agency reports that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe has invited the president of the Talysh-Mughan Republic (1993) Ali Akram Hummatov to participate in the conference "Peace and Co-existence in the South Caucasus” which will take place in Brussels on 19th of February and is initiated by the Council of Europe.

According to Iranian sources, the Council of Europe urges the heads of the South Caucasian countries involved in the conflicts to participate in the conference.

Note that in October of 2013 Ali Akram Hummatov visited Armenia and Artsakh. During his speech in the department of Iranian Studies of Yerevan State University, referring to the problems of the Talysh in Azerbaijan he specifically noted, "The Talysh people are deprived of their elementary rights in Azerbaijan. They do not respect us, the Talysh, they destroy us. They conduct the policy of assimilation towards the Talysh then declare that we are brothers. It is not logical. We want to be able to read and write in our native language while in response to our demands they (the Azerbaijani authorities) openly declare that you, the Talysh, don’t have future, you should be assimilated.”

The Talysh politician has answered to the question posed by a journalist during the interview given to Artsakh Public TV, whether the Talysh will fight again in case if war occurs, "God forbid! I don’t want the Talysh to be engaged in that war. I call on them from here. It will not be our war. We do not need it. I also call on the other peoples. Why to endanger our life given by God in a war, which will bring us nothing?”