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Old Musavat

The Müsavat (Equality) Party is the oldest political party in Azerbaijan. It was established in 1911 by a group of Azerbaijani socialist intellectuals, who had been previously closely associated with the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party. Their leader was Mammed Amin Rasulzade, a journalist .

The Baku Committee of Muslim Social Organizations, as well as the Müsavat, were quite radical during the early days of the revolution. They wanted a democratic republic, which would guarantee the rights of Muslims. The Soviet historian, A. L. Popov, writes that the Müsavat cannot be a priori classified as a reactionary party of Khans and Beks, because in the early revolutionary period the Musavat stood on the positions of democracy and even socialism. "Until a certain time the Baku Committee of Muslim Social Organizations and the Müsavat party successfully fulfilled the mission not only of representing the general national interests but also of guiding the Azerbaijani workers' democracy".

Later on in its activity the Müsavat party also took the pan-Turkist and pan-Islamist orientations Closer to 1917, the full title of the party was established as "Müsavat" Turkic Democratic Party of Federalists .

The Müsavat's programme, which appealed to the Azerbaijani masses and assured the party of the sympathy of the Muslims abroad, announced the following aims:

1. The unity of all Muslim peoples without regard to nationality or sect.

2. Restoration of the independence of all Muslim nations.

3. Extension of material and moral aid to all Muslim nations which fight for their independence.

4. Help to all Muslim peoples and states in offence and in defence.

5. The destruction of the barriers which prevent the spread of teh above-mentioned ideas.

6. The establishment of contact with parties striving for the progress of the Muslims.

7. The establishment, as need might arise, of contact and exchange of opinion with foreign parties which have the well being of humanity as ther aim.

8. The intensification of the struggle for the existence of all Muslims and the development of their commerce, trade and economic life in general

With the Russian Revolution of February 1917, followed by Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, disintegration of Russian Empire and the following civil war (1917 - 1921), Müsavat became the leading party of the first independent Azerbaijan Republic (1918 - 1920) and its first elected parliament. Under the Müsavat's leadership, Azerbaijan in 1918 became the first secular democracy in the Muslim world. It was at this time, when Azerbaijani women were granted the right to vote, several years before the U.S. and some European countries.

After the fall of the first Republic in April 1920 as a result of the Bolshevik invasion, most of the prominent Müsavat members were either exiled, killed or became victims of the Bolshevik purge. The party officially ceased its activity in Azerbaijan in 1923, after the establishment of the Soviet Union.

New Musavat

The resurrection of Müsavat's name came in 1992, during the second independence of Azerbaijan. One of the leaders of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA), Isa Qambar, established a party under this name and claiming the legacy of Old Müsavat. The party structure consists of "Başqan" (Leader), "Divan" (Executive Board), and "Məclis" (Congress). Isa Qambar remains Müsavat's elected leader up to date.

Since 1993, Müsavat was in the opposition to the ruling "Yeni Azərbaycan" (New Azerbaijan Party). At the last elections (5 November 2000 and 7 January 2001), the party won 4.9 % of the popular vote and 2 out of 125 seats. As party's candidate, its leader Isa Qambar won 12.2 % of the popular vote in the 15 october 2003 presidential elections. At the parliamentary elections of 6 November 2005, it joined the Freedom (Azadlıq) alliance, and won inside the alliance 5 seats. Müsavat is also known for its protests against the Azerbaijani government such as that took place on 16 October 2003, after Isa Qambar had lost the election.

1. Firuz Kazemzadeh. Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917-1921), New York Philosophical Library, 1951, pp. 20-21
2. Firuz Kazemzadeh. Struggle for Trancaucasia (1917-1921), New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 51.
3. A.L.Popov. "Из истории революции в Восточном Закавказье (1917-1918)", Пролетарская Революция, No. 7 (30), 1924, p. 118.
4. Pan-Turkism: From Irrendentism to Coopersation by Jacob M. Landau P.55
5. On the Religious Frontier: Tsarist Russia and Islam in the Caucasus by Firouzeh Mostashari P. 144
6. M.D. Guseinov. Тюркская Демократическая Партия Федералистов "Мусават" в прошлом и настоящем. Baku, 1927
7. M.D. Guseinov. Тюркская Демократическая Партия Федералистов "Мусават" в прошлом и настоящем. Baku, 1927, p. 73.

• Political parties in Azerbaijan