Historical Factors
From ancient times, the Azeri Turks and
Azerbaijan were both heart and part of the
Persian Empire. Azeri Turk dynasties like
the Ghaznavids, Safavids, Qajars, and others
played a key role in expanding and
defending the Persian Empire, and the
Azerbaijani city of Tabriz served as capital
of the Empire for centuries. Several Iranian
shahs, in fact, are of Azeri Turk origin.
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It was only in the nineteenth century with
the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay that
Imperial Russia gained control of part of the
Persian Empire, the then semi-independent
northern
Azerbaijani
khanates.
These
territories became the nucleus for the
modern
republics
of
Azerbaijan
and
Armenia. T
he
Persian Empire officially
renounced its claim to the northern
Azerbaijani khanates, leading to the division
of Azerbaijan into two: Northern Azerbaijan
or Russian (Soviet) Azerbaijan and Southern
Azerbaijan or Iranian Azerbaijan. Since the
Soviet Union's collapse, this history has
created an illusion among Iranians that
Tehran's government has the right to take
Azerbaijan back under its control, to
intervene in Azerbaijani politics, and to
manipulate
Azerbaijan's
future
in
accordance with Iran's interests. Baku's
assertion of independence and its clear
unwillingness to be reincorporated into Iran
has made for a rocky relationship with
Teheran.
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