Young Pishavari; 'Social Democrat, Reformer, and Iran Lover'

The series of programs titled 'Faction' broadcasted by Radio Farda coincides with the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous government in Iranian Azerbaijan, focusing on this historical event. This is the ninth episode of the series. (In previous episodes, we saw that Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to establish an autonomous government in the northern provinces of Iran and regions occupied by this country at the end of World War II. He instructed Baqirov, the head of the Communist Party of Soviet Azerbaijan, to establish a party called the 'Democratic Faction of Azerbaijan.') In the summer of 1945, after Stalin's directive, the first issue in launching a separatist political party in Iranian Azerbaijan was finding a personality who could lead this party; a figure with popularity and a defensible political face, yet inclined towards the Soviet Union and its unique ideology. They chose a Turkish journalist and politician named Mirza Jafar Pishavari, one of the oldest communists in Iran, who was 52 years old at the time and had spent most of his life in political struggle. Pishavari's life, from his birth in a village near Khalkhal to the day Baqirov invited him to Baku to send him to Iran to establish the 'Democratic Faction of Azerbaijan,' had many ups and downs. The Pishavari family was among the Azerbaijanis who migrated to the north of the Aras River in the last years of the 19th century, and he spent many of his teenage and young adult years in territories under the control of the Tsarist Russia. This migration allowed young Pishavari to closely experience the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. He was also 25 years old during the tumultuous years after World War I when a country called the 'Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan' was born in the north of the Aras and was enamored with the social democracy of that time. According to Touraj Atabaki, a Leiden University professor, Pishavari turned to journalism during this time. Atabaki states: 'Pishavari published his first writings in a newspaper called Achik-Suz. Achik-Suz, published in Azerbaijani Turkish, was the newspaper of the Musavat party in Baku, among which we are more familiar with the name Muhammad Amin Rasulzadeh.' Rasulzadeh was one of the most prominent politicians of the north of the Aras who had also been active in the constitutional revolution in Iran for years and was considered a prominent figure in the Democratic Party of Iran (Amioun). He also served as the editor of the different and progressive newspaper Iran Now as the organ of the Democratic Party for years. Eventually, Rasulzadeh returned to Baku and became the founder of the 'Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan' and its first president. At this time, Pishavari also gravitated towards the Democratic Party of Iran, which was a social democratic party, and published articles in the newspaper 'Azerbaijan Integral Part of Iran,' which was affiliated with this party and published in Baku. After the closure of this newspaper, Pishavari joined a group of leftist Iranians residing in Baku who founded a new party called the 'Justice Party.' Pishavari then took on the editorship of a newspaper called 'Hurriyat,' which was published in both Persian and Turkish as the organ of the Justice Party. Touraj Atabaki, who has examined Pishavari's articles in these publications, describes the content of what he wrote during this time: 'Pishavari's editorials in these publications – especially in the newspaper Hurriyat – usually began with criticism of the Iranian government's policies and then insisted that the country needed social reforms. For example, in one of his editorials, he describes Iranians as a nation with a unique history and identity that, despite the ups and downs in the past and the acceptance of many religions and sects, has managed to maintain its six-thousand-year-old culture and traditions.' During the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks did not settle for the conquest of Azerbaijan and the overthrow of the Musavat government in Baku. They entered Iranian territory in pursuit of the White Russians who had fled to Iran and took control of the port of Anzali in Gilan. At this time, activists of the Justice Party had the opportunity to gather for the first time in Iranian territory, namely Anzali, and with the presence of representatives from various parts of Iran, to establish the Communist Party of Iran. In Anzali, Pishavari was elected to the Central Committee of this party. Meanwhile, the Russian attack forced British forces to retreat, and at the same time, exceptional disorder and instability in Gilan created a unique opportunity for the revolutionaries of the Jungle Movement led by Mirza Kuchak Khan in Rasht, who aspired to expand throughout Iran. Touraj Atabaki narrates this period of Pishavari's tumultuous life: 'The cooperation of the communists with the Jungle Movement led to the formation of the Socialist Republic of Iran. This republic lasted about a year. In this Socialist Republic of Iran, in the first cabinet, Pishavari held the position of commissioner or minister of foreign affairs. In the second cabinet of this republic, he was the commissioner of internal affairs. After this, he became the editor of a communist newspaper published in Rasht.' During this period, the fervor of the communist revolution among the Russians was greater than ever, and activities to export this revolution worldwide were more intense than ever. In this context, the famous 'Congress of Eastern Workers' was held in September 1920, in which 1,900 representatives from around the world participated to meet with senior members of the Communist Party of Russia and clarify the central policies of the global communist movement. Pishavari was also one of the delegates of a large delegation sent by the Communist Party of Iran to this congress. According to Touraj Atabaki, what happened at this congress was a turning point in Pishavari's political life. He states: 'At this congress, Grigory Zinoviev, the leader of the Third International, asked the participants to pledge allegiance to the Third International. The Third International was established in March 1919, and at its second congress, Trotsky, who was considered one of the prominent leaders of the revolution at that time, presented a plan requiring communist parties worldwide to unconditionally defend the Soviet Union as a precondition for membership in the Third International. This is very important. This is actually the turning point that occurs in the thoughts of many Iranian leftists, including Pishavari.' Thus, serving the interests of a country that was Iran's northern neighbor and had long been a dangerous enemy of Iran's independence and territorial integrity became a valuable action for communists like Pishavari, who were devoted to modern and justice-seeking ideas, in the service of the oppressed and marginalized. All with the hope that one day a communist revolution would arise in Iran and a modern system based on Marxist theories would be established. However, less than three months after the 'allegiance' of Iranian communists to the Russians, one of the most right-wing politicians of that era, named Seyyed Zia, along with a military officer trained by the Tsarist Russian forces named Reza Khan, staged a coup and seized power in Iran. Reza Khan gradually consolidated his power, overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, crowned himself, and for two decades, Iran became a hell for leftists, socialists, and communists. Pishavari was not spared from this hell, and his share of the suppression of the left during this period was long-term imprisonment. (In the next part of the 'Faction' program, we will continue to examine Pishavari's life. What did he do after his release from prison? Why did Pishavari's relationship with the Tudeh Party deteriorate, and why did he leave this party? What happened during the examination of Pishavari's credentials as a representative of the people of Tabriz in the National Assembly, and why were his credentials rejected? All of this will be covered in the tenth episode of 'Faction,' which will be broadcast at the end of the evening magazine.)