Review of the Iranian Azerbaijan in the Soviet Press in the 1940s

The article presents an overview on the “21 Azer” (December 12, 1945) movement in Iranian Azerbaijan1 , its national and cultural issues, including literature, based on the publications of the Soviet press. It especially focuses on the articles, published in the 1940s in the newspaper “Communist”, printed under the ideological control and run by the Communist Party of the Soviet Azerbaijan. The Soviet media publications of the time, expressing a condemnatory attitude towards the Pahlavi government, contains an analysis and critique of socio-political, economic and cultural processes, samples of the contemporary intellectuals’ pieces. They also reflected the activities of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP), national and ideological issues of the movement. Moreover, the subtext of these publications shows how the Soviet government exploited the fraternal feelings of Azerbaijanis on both sides of the Aras River. For a comprehensive exposition of the topic, this research paper considers diverse sources and scholarly literature that shed light on the historical context of the period.