The Muslim Difai [Defense] Party: Local, National, and Imperial Issues and Representations in the Southern Caucasus (Early 20th Century)
Journal: Cahiers du monde russe
Year: 2011

As the only political organization of Southern Caucasus Muslims to enjoy a popular base of support, the Difai was active between 1906 and 1908. It adopted the methods previously deployed in the Caucasus by the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party, including recourse to targeted terrorism and the recruitment of armed militias. Defining itself as a pan-Muslim organization for the Caucasus and Crimea, it took up local issues, including Muslim settlement in Karabakh and transhumant access to summer pasture