Photo: The Ethnic Name 'Azerbaijani' Did Not Even Exist in 1928, Says Iranologist

Iranologist Vardan Voskanyan wrote on his Facebook page: "Here’s what the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR thought about 'Azerbaijani Turks' in 1928, while the dictator of Baku babbles about their 'historic' lands. Notice that the ethnic name 'Azerbaijani' did not yet exist at that time; the officially used synonyms were 'Azerbaijani Turks', 'Turks', and 'Turks of Azerbaijan'.

"The Azerbaijani Turks are largely descendants of Turkish tribes who settled here after the great Mongol-Turkic invasion of the 13th century. The very name 'Azerbaijani' comes from the neighboring Persian province of Azerbaijan, from where they came and where their relatives still live today.

"In terms of anthropological type, Azerbaijani Turks do not represent a uniformity. Nevertheless, some characteristic features can be distinguished - dark eye and hair color, above-average height, for the most part, mesocephalic or average length of heads, straight and narrow nose, and a long torso with an average chest volume. The Azerbaijani language is a dialect of the Turkish language, which includes a significant number of Persian and Arabic words.

"Having come to the Caucasus as nomadic herders, the Turks of Azerbaijan largely maintain this occupation - semi-nomadic animal husbandry. However, agriculture is now their top priority. Craft industries, primarily carpet production, also play a significant role in their economy, and in the last half-century, there has been a shift towards oil production in Baku.

"The dwelling of the Turks is a one-story house or sakla made of raw bricks with a straw, reed, or earthen roof, and in forested areas - with a wooden roof. The streets of villages are represented by solid adobe walls, as in Turkestan, since windows and doors face the courtyard. There are no ovens; they are replaced by fireplaces. Floors are earth-covered, covered with mats, local textiles, or carpets. They are placed directly on the floor with almost no furniture."

Atlas of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (compiled and engraved in the publishing house of the NKVD of the RSFSR), Moscow, Published by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, 1928, p. 89.