04/19/1993 0000  Lezghis Astir

By NEJLA SAMMAKIA
 Associated Press Writer
   
GUSSAR, Azerbaijan (AP) -- The 600,000 Lezghis of Azerbaijan and Russia have
begun clamoring for their own state, threatening turmoil in a tranquil corner 
of the Caucasus.

The region has escaped the ethnic warfare of neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh,
Abkhazia and Ossetia, but Lezhgis could become the next minority in the former
Soviet Union to fight for independence.

Lezghis, who are Muslim descendents of nomadic shepherds, are angry about the
conscription of their young men to fight in Azerbaijan's 5-year-old undeclared
war with Armenia.

They also want to unite the Lezghi regions of Azerbaijan and Russia, which
were effectively one until the breakup of the Soviet Union created national
borders that had been only lines on a map.

A rally of more than 3,000 Lezghis in March to protest conscription and
demand a separate "Lezghistan" alarmed the Azerbaijani government.

Officials in Baku, the capital, deny rumors that police shot six
demonstrators to death. But the government announced strict security measures
and began cooperating with Russian authorities to control the movement of
Lezhgis living across the border in the Dagestan region of Russia.

Visitors to Gussar, the center of Lezhgi life, found the town quiet soon
after the protest. Children played outdoors in the crisp mountain air.

At the Sunday bazaar, men in heavy coats and dark fur hats gathered to
discuss grievances ranging from high customs duties at the Russian border to a
war they say is not theirs.

"I have been drafted, but I won't go," said Shamil Kadimov, gold teeth
glinting in the sun. "Why must I fight a war for the Azerbaijanis? I have
nothing to do with Armenia."

More than 3,000 people have died in the war, which centers on the disputed
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, about 150 miles to the southeast.

Malik Kerimov, an official in the mayor's office, said only 11 of 300 locals
drafted in 1992 had served.

"The police don't force people to go," he said. "They are afraid of an
uprising that could be backed by Lezghis in Dagestan."

All the men agreed that police had not fired at the demonstrators, but
disagreed on how the protest came about.

Some said it occurred spontaneously when rumors spread that Azerbaijan was
about to draft 1,500 men from the Gussar region, where 75,000 Lezghis live.

Others said the rally was ordered by Gen. Muhieddin Kahramanov, leader of the
Lezhgi underground separatist movement, Sadval, based in Dagestan.

"We organized the demonstration when families came to us distraught about
draft orders," said Kerim Babayev, a mathematics teacher who belongs to Sadval.

"We hope to reunite peacefully, by approaching everyone -- the Azerbaijanis, 
the Russians."

In the early 18th century, the Lezhgis formed two khanates, or sovereignties,
in what are now Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They roamed freely with their sheep
over the green hills and mountains between the two khanates.

By 1812, the Lezghi areas were joined to czarist Russia. After 1917, they
came under Soviet rule. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the 
600,000 Lezghis were faced for the first time with strict borders.

About half remained in Dagestan and half in newly independent Azerbaijan.

"We have to pay customs on all this, on cars, on wine," complained Mais
Talibov, a small trader. His goods, laid out on the ground at the bazaar,
included brandy, stomach medication and plastic shoes from Dagestan.

"We want our own country," he said. "We want to be able to move about easily.
But Baku won't listen to us."

Physically, it is hard for outsiders to distinguish Lezhgis from other
Azerbaijanis. In many villages, they live side by side, working at the same 
jobs and intermarrying to some degree.

But the Lezhgis have a distinctive language, a mixture of Arabic, Turkish and
Persian with strong guttural vowels.

Azerbaijan officially supports the cultural preservation of its 10 largest
ethnic minorities. The Lezghis have weekly newspapers and some elementary 
school classes in their language.

Autonomy is a different question. If the Lezghis succeeded in separating from
Azerbaijan, they would set a precedent for other minorities, such as the 
Talish in the south, the Tats in the nearby mountains and the Avars of eastern
Azerbaijan.



