This article focuses on ethnic minorities in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Overview 94.8% of the population of Azerbaijan are ethnic Azerbaijanis as of 2019 census. There are more than 80 ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan. The largest of these are Lezgins, Talysh, Russians and Georgians. However, the numbers of most of these ethnic minorities are small.

According to Professor Douglass Blum:

Freedom House has reported, in July 2005, that some ethnic minorities have encountered discrimination in such areas as housing, education, and employment. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted that, although Azerbaijan had demonstrated improvements by enacting legislation with provisions for racial discrimination, there had been no discrimination related cases prosecuted. In its summary record, the CERD questioned how such legislation would stem the reportedly discriminatory practices of public officials and law enforcement personnel. The CERD also recommended that Azerbaijan broaden its hitherto narrow understanding of discrimination by not only addressing its "most severe and extreme manifestations" but its commonplace occurrence. Concern over the lack of programs to support minority languages or those fostering inter-cultural education was also expressed by the Committee. Azerbaijan has attempted to curb discrimination by enacting laws., although the

Linguistic rights Article 21 ("State Language") of Section II of the Constitution of Azerbaijan states:

Furthermore, Article 45 ("The Right to Use Native Language") of Section III of the Constitution of Azerbaijan states:

According to the 2007 report by the Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI):European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Second Report on Azerbaijan, CRI(2007)22, May 24, 2007

According to other reports, there have been several complaints of ethnic unrest in Azerbaijan due to the assimilation politic of the government and its treatment of minorities. Among others the Avars, Talysh, Kurds and Tats.

General representation in public and political life According to the Resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities issued by the Council of Europe in 2004:

According to the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the human right's body of the Council of Europe:

Forced assimilation

According to the 1998 book “Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe”:Christina Bratt (EDT) Paulston, Donald Peckham (eds.), Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, Multilingual Matters publisher, 1998, , p. 106

The Russian expert on the nationalities issue, Valery Tishkov, stated that Azerbaijan is one of the biggest assimilators of the former Soviet republics, the other two being Georgia and Uzbekistan.Thomas de Waal. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. , New York: New York University Press, 2003, , p. 133

According to Radio Free Europe organization's analyst Liz Fuller, several Azerbaijan's ethnic representatives (such as Magomed Guseinov from the Avar National Council) have voiced public concern about forced assimilation and ethnic cleansing in order to ensure the predominance of Azerbaijani Turks in the country over Lezghins, Avars, Talysh, Tats, Kurds and other minorities.Liz Fuller. Analysis: Do Azerbaijan's Ethnic Minorities Face Forced Assimilation?, RFE/RL

Armenians

The vast majority of Armenians in Azerbaijan lived in Nagorno-Karabakh. However they now number about 20 people, with a sizablely larger number in Azerbaijani prisons. Non-official sources estimate that the number Armenians living on Azerbaijani territory outside Nagorno-Karabakh not in prison is around 2,000 to 3,000, and almost exclusively comprises persons married to Azeris or of mixed Armenian-Azeri descent. The number of Armenians who are likely not married to Azeris and are not of mixed Armenian-Azeri descent are estimated at 645 (36 men and 609 women) and more than half (378 or 59 per cent of Armenians in Azerbaijan outside Nagorno-Karabakh) live in Baku and the rest in rural areas. They are likely to be the elderly and sick, and probably have no other family members. Armenians in Azerbaijan are at a great risk as long as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unsettled.

Azerbaijan SSR During Soviet rule, the question of Karabakh festered for Armenians. The Armenians of Karabakh made claims of economic neglect, charging that Azeri authorities with under-investment in the region in an attempt to keep it impoverished. In addition, Baku placed restrictions on cultural ties with Armenia. Tensions rose in the early 1960s, and in 1968 clashes erupted between Armenians and Azeris in Stepanakert (the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh). The Armenians feared that the Armenian character of Karabakh would disappear as it had in Nakhichevan over the decades, where the Armenian population had disappeared and all of the Armenian monuments were systematically removed and reportedly destroyed by the Azerbaijani authorities. In 1979, Nagorno-Karabakh had a 74% Armenian majority but received no Armenian television broadcasts and had no Armenian institution of higher learning

According to Thomas De Waal:de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. . pg 133

However, other evidence suggests that the Armenians lived in better conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh than Azerbaijanis. According to Yamskov,A.Yamskov. Ethnic Conflict in Transcaucasus: The Case of Nagorno-Karabakh. In Theory and Society, Vol. 20, No. 5, 1991, pp. 631-660

The Soviet laws ensured that in Nagorno-Karabakh "party and state organs were staffed primarily by Armenians who not only ensured Armenian cultural autonomy with Armenian-language newspapers, schools, and arts but strengthened it"Audrey Alstatd. The Azerbaijani Turks : Power and Identity Under Russian Rule (Studies of Nationalities). Hoover Institution Press, 1992, p.126

1991 to 2023

War soon broke out over Nagorno Karabakh and ended in 1994 with the Armenian separatists gaining control over the territory. Turkic nationalism is the leading force in Baku and has undoubtedly contributed to the conflict with the Armenians given the historical enmity between Armenians and Turkey. All the major human rights monitors agreed that the status of Armenians, those married to or those who associate with Armenians, and those who are perceived to be sympathetic to Armenians, is extremely grave. There has also been numerous acts of vandalism against the Armenian Apostolic Church throughout Azerbaijan. The Armenians still remaining in Azerbaijan practically live in virtual hiding, and have also changed their Armenian names and surnames to Azerbaijani names and surnames because they have to maintain an extremely low profile to avoid harassment and physical attacks. They have continued to complain (in private due to fear of attacks) that they remain subject to harassmant and human rights violations and therefore have to hide their identity."Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union" (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, January 1993), p. 118 Armenians and part Armenians living in Azerbaijan were reported as being refused permission to leave the country. They have also reported that the Department of Visas and Registrations took them off of the list of residents.

A 1993 report from the American Embassy in Baku noted:

According to a 1993 Department of Justice report:

Azerbaijan has been accused of embarking on a campaign beginning in 1998 to completely destroy the vast cemetery of medieval Armenian khachkar gravestones in the archeological site of Julfa, Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan.Pickman, Sarah. Tragedy on the Araxes. Archaeological Institute of America. December 29, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2007 Claims by Armenians that Azerbaijan had undertaken a systematic campaign to destroy and remove the monuments first arose in late 1998, and those charges were renewed in 2002 and again in December 2005 following the final destruction of the site.

Numerous appeals were filed by both Armenian and international organizations, condemning the Azerbaijani government and demanding it desist from such activity. In 2006, Azerbaijan barred European Parliament members from investigating the claims, charging them with a "biased and hysterical approach" to the issue and stating that it would only accept a delegation if it visited Armenian-controlled territory as well.Castle, Stephen. Azerbaijan 'flattened' sacred Armenian site . The Independent. April 16, 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.

According to European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) 2011 Report on Azerbaijan "the constant negative official and media discourse concerning the Republic of Armenia helps to sustain a negative climate of opinion regarding people of Armenian origin, who remain vulnerable to discrimination."

2023 to present

In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched an offensive against the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war ended with the capitulation of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the mass escape of almost the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Germans

Kurds

The presence of Kurds in Azerbaijan dates back to the 18th century. The area between Karabakh and Zangezur became inhabited by nomadic Kurdish tribes in the early nineteenth century, when a new wave of Kurdish migrants numbering 600 families led by Mihamed Sefi Siltan moved to the Karabakh Khanate from Persia. A smaller number of them also moved here in 1885 from the Ottoman Empire.Дмитрий Пирбари. Курды – исконные обитатели Ближнего и Среднего Востока . Kurdishcenter.ru.

There were some 41,000 Kurds residing in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era.Rauf Orujev. "Azerbaijan: Kurds Targeted Again", Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Caucasus Service, CRS No. 174, April 11, 2003 Local Kurds had always been on good terms with the Azerbaijani majority, a Kurdish radio station, newspaper and numerous schools attempt to keep Kurdish culture alive, but fewer families bother to teach their mother tongue.

According to Thomas de Waal:

The geographical areas of concentration of Kurds in Azerbaijan were Kelbajar, Lachin, Qubadli and Zangilan districts, sandwiched between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In the course of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, these regions came under occupation of the Armenian forces."1993 UN Security Council Resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh #822, #853, #874, and #884", Online Publication, U.S. Department of State website As a result, Kurds along with the entire Azerbaijani population of these regions were displaced to other parts of Azerbaijan.