Western Azerbaijan Community

Zarbeli Gurbanov was the editor of “Soviet Armenia” in 1985–1988. Born in 1934 in Narimanli village of Basarkechar region, Zerbali Gurbanov received higher party education. He worked as the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Vardenis (Basarkechar) district council, and as the first secretary of the Amasiya district Party Committee in 1981–1984. Zarbeli Gurbanov’s years as an editor coincided with the resurgence of Armenian chauvinism under the guise of “perestroika and glastnost”. Since the end of 1987, the editorial office of the “Soviet Armenia” newspaper had to take care of ensuring the safety of its employees, but also to act as a defender of the rights of Azerbaijanis whose human rights were grossly violated in the territory of Armenia, who faced pressure and persecution, and were subjected to the violence of Armenians. With the signature of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, appeals were made to the governing bodies of Armenia and the USSR about the pressures and violence against Azerbaijanis, and concrete measures were requested to be taken to ensure the safety of our compatriots. However, instead of taking serious measures, the Armenian leadership, implementing the policy of “Armenia without Turks”, covered up all kinds of arbitrariness of the Armenian armed groups that forced the Azerbaijanis to leave the territory of the republic.

At the end of 1988, most of the employees of the “Soviet Armenia” newspaper had to move to Azerbaijan. As the deputy chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR, as the editor of the newspaper, which was the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia, the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers, Zerbeli Gurbanov came to Baku in January 1989 and became the first chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR. Secretary Abdurrahman Vazirov received information about the atrocities committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis living in Armenia, and stated that the policy of ethnic cleansing was implemented at the level of the republic’s leadership. However, the indifference of the Azerbaijani leadership to the fate of their compatriots allowed the Armenians to complete the policy of ethnic cleansing in a short period of time. At one of the rallies held in front of the Opera Theater in Iravan, it was proposed to settle scores with the “Soviet Armenia” newspaper, and the protesters surrounded the editorial building. About 20 employees of the editorial office were reliesed from hostage as a result of the special task force dispersing the demonstrators. After some time, Zarbeli Gurbanov and several employees of the editorial office had to leave Iravan forever.