Azeri Turk () is a scientific, literary, social, economic, and political magazine that was published by exiles who came to Istanbul after the Soviet takeover of the Azerbaijan Republic in the 1920s.
The magazine was first published on February 1, 1928, and was published every 15 days. The owner of the magazine was Mammad Sadig Axundzade, the director and chief editor was Mahammad Amin Rasulzade. All issues of the magazine had articles about the problems of Azerbaijan, as the country was going through a difficult period during the time the magazine was published (1928–1931). Azeri Turk was an important publication that helped shape the idea of independence for Azerbaijanis both in Azerbaijan and abroad.
In November 1928, there was a disagreement between Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, Mirza Bala Mammadzade and Mammad Sadig Axundzade, as a result of which Mahammad Amin Rasulzade and Mirza Bala Mammadzade left the magazine and established the Odlu Yurd magazine. Later, Shefi bay Rustembayli also left the magazine and joined Odlu Yurd magazine.
About Azeri Turk succeeded another magazine named Yeni Kafkasya. The first issue of the magazine was published in Istanbul on February 1, 1928, and only 29 issues were published. The price of the magazine published in "Orhaniye", "Milliyet" and "Amedi" printing houses was initially 10 kuras, but later it increased to 20 kuras. "Azeri Turk" was published regularly every two weeks in the first year, later it was published once a month, and in some months it was not published at all. The last nine issues of the magazine were printed in Latin letters, and the last issue was published in February 1930. Some issues of the magazine are dedicated to special days and topics, for example, "tenth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan" (issue 9), "August 30 Victory" "issue 15" and "Letter Revolution" (issue 18) has been done.
Form of the magazine In the period from February 1, 1928, to March 1, 1931, the first 20 issues were in Arabic letters, and a total of 32 issues were published in the Azeri Turk magazine, which was gradually switched to Latin letters. After the decision of the Soviet government to definitively switch to Latin letters in Azerbaijan in 1929, the management of the magazine began to use the new letters in the new issues starting from the 10th issue in order to gradually introduce the new letters to the readers. In addition to these, the date, number, price and page numbers of the magazine were given with new numbers. In the last pages of the 11th and 14th issues of the magazine, the international numbers adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the tables showing which signs these numbers correspond to in the Arabic alphabet were published, and an effort was made to teach the readers new letters. In the 15th issue, the Latin alphabet adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and another table showing the corresponding sounds of these letters in the Arabic alphabet were published, so the readers got acquainted with the new alphabet. The magazine tried to use simple Turkish to make it easier for readers from all walks of life. The editor-in-chief of the magazine, headed by Rasulzade, adopted the idea of Ismayil Gaspirali "unity in language, thought, work" and applied the element of this idea "unity in language" in their magazines. According to Rasulzade, as a requirement of the policy of Russification, which began during the Tsarist Russia and reached its peak during the Soviet Russia, the dialect used by each Turkic tribe should be shown as a different language and converted into another language called by the name of the tribe it belongs to, and the ties between these tribes should be cut off. was aimed at. To put an end to this situation, instead of different local dialects, a common dialect should be chosen and there should be a common written language. The most suitable dialect was Turkish (Ottoman) Turkish. Rasulzade defended the idea of simplifying Turkish Turkish by removing many foreign words from Ottoman Turkish and replacing them with purely Turkish words so that every class of people could easily understand the article they were reading. This idea was tried to be implemented in "Azeri Turk". Although attempts were made to simplify the heavy, stilted language of Ottoman Turkish as much as possible, it was not possible to achieve complete simplification. In addition, the entire editorial staff of the magazine consisted of Azerbaijani Turks. Some of them knew Ottoman Turkish well, while others did not. Therefore, Azerbaijani words were often used in the articles and writings, which made the language of the magazine dirty. In short, although the language of the magazine was chosen in Ottoman, they still tried to use simple language, but Rasulzade and Mirza Bala's departure from the magazine due to disagreements between them and Mammad Sadig caused negative changes not only in the content, but also in the form of the magazine. In 1928, when it started its publishing life, the magazine, which was published regularly every two weeks, after taking over the management of Mammad Sadig in December 1928, it published 20 issues in 1928, and only nine issues in 1929. In 1930, this number decreased to two, and in 1931, the last year of publication, only one number was printed. Thus, the magazine that published 20 issues in 1 year under the leadership of Rasulzade, managed to publish only 12 issues in 3 years under the leadership of Mammad Sadig. The magazine under the leadership of Rasulzade and Mirza Bala published 16 pages, and 8 pages were published under the leadership of Akhundzade. From the 21st issue, the font size in the magazine, which was published in Latin letters, was changed and replaced with larger points. This led to the publication of fewer articles and articles due to the reduction in the number of pages.
"Azeri Turk Youth Union"
Despite facing many negative elements under the leadership of Mammad Sadig, "Azeri Türk" magazine made a commendable struggle for regaining the independence of Azerbaijan. Thus, with the meetings and conferences mostly held in the "Azeri Turk" administration building, the connection of the Azerbaijani youth abroad with national education and culture was continued through the line of the "Azeri Turk Youth Union" chaired by Mammad Sadig. At the same time, realizing how important these young people and, most importantly, educated Azerbaijani youth are for the union, thanks to the help collected from the participants in good financial condition in these meetings, the needy Azerbaijani young people were provided with education, clothing and food. In addition, from the news published in November 1929, it is understood that since 1924, the union provided financial assistance to 39 poor students and managed the placement of many students in schools. Not only "Azeri Türk" magazine, but also "Yeni Qafqaziya" magazine, 32 historical and public conferences were organized in the administrative buildings and financial assistance was given to 8 new students until November 1929. It is also possible to say that one of the reasons for the above-mentioned changes that took place under Akhundzade's leadership was the time and money he allocated to the "Azeri Turkish Youth Union". So, Mammad Sadig allocated almost all of the money collected at the meetings and conferences to the students, and he also made an effort to build a dormitory for Azerbaijani students in 1931.
Editors In addition to Mahammad Amin Rasulzade and Mahammad Sadig Akhundzade, the following signatures and names are noteworthy in the editorial board of the magazine: Mirza Bala Mammadzade, "Kamal", A. Uran, "Ayin Kaf", "Senan", "Shafi", "Azeri", "Mustafa". , M. Sisyanli, "H. C. L", Y. Ali, "Mir", Jafar Sadig.
This rich collective of writers spread to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and various European countries. With this, "Azeri Turk" had the opportunity to receive first-hand information from many parts of the world and convey it to its readers, not only in Azerbaijan and Turkey. The magazine had correspondents in various European countries such as France, Germany and Poland, and Middle Eastern countries such as Iran and Afghanistan.
M. A. Rasulzade, M. B. Mammadzade, Mahammad Sadig, Shafi bay Rustambayli, Kamal Ganizade bay with the pseudonym "Kamal", H. Jamal bay with the signature "H. C. L" lived in Istanbul and wrote their articles here, but the articles written there related to Rasulzade's departure for various reasons in the magazine also took place. Rasulzade sent five articles published between March 22, 1928, and June 30, 1928, to the management of the magazine from Paris. During his stay in Paris, he had the opportunity to closely follow the French press, including the elections in Germany. The staff of the magazine in France consisted of Rasulzade, writing under the pseudonym "Azeri" and Mir Gasim Mehdiyev, writing under the pseudonym "Mir". The news sent to the magazine from Germany is also signed by A. Uran. Along with the news of A. Uran, the German correspondent of the magazine and living in Berlin, articles were also published in the magazine. In addition, Mustafa Bay Vakilov, who signed "Mustafa" or "M" in his writings, contributed to "Azeri Türk" with news and political writings he sent from Warsaw. The owner of the "Dash Demir" signature, which we often see in the magazine, was none other than Mirza Bala Mammadzade. By writing "Baku" under the articles he wrote with this signature, he created the impression that the articles were sent from Baku, thereby confusing the Soviet spies and creating an opportunity for him to move more easily in Istanbul.
"Ayin Kaf" or "A. K." the person who wrote with his own signature was the magazine's Middle East correspondent, and the latest news about Afghanistan and Iran was included in the magazine through this reporter. Jafar Sadig, an Iranian correspondent for Azeri Turk, lived in Tabriz and was responsible for bringing the latest news there to the magazine. Living in Istanbul, Sanan was more interested in Iranian literature and published articles in the magazine introducing Iranian Turkish poets, more precisely South Azerbaijani literature, South Azerbaijani poets and their poems. He also contributed to Azeri Turkish with his poems. Adhering to the phrase "we will gladly publish articles suitable for our issue" on the cover of the magazine, the articles and poems sent to the management of the magazine, many of which were sent by university students about the independence of Azerbaijan, were also included in the magazine's issues.
Aim of the magazine The purpose of the magazine was announced by Mahammad Amin Rasulzade in the first issue under the title "The Path We Take":
Looking at the copies of Azeri Turk, which revealed its goals in this way, it can be seen that most of the political, social and literary articles related to Azerbaijan are placed on the first pages.