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Government interventions have been complemented by the coordinated mediation of the
republic’s Muslim clergy, and of the Avar national movement—the Imam Shamil National Front.
While the latter has been vocal in promoting Avar group interests, as the representative of the largest
ethnic group in the republic it has also approached other conflicting groups with the offer to suspend
all of its activities across Dagestan if their national movements will do likewise. In assuming this
role, the Avar national movement has presented itself as the champion of the unity of Dagestan and
the opponent of the republic’s federalization–which would be extremely difficult to achieve given
the small size of the republic and the large number of officially recognized ethnic groups.
Lezgins:
The Lezgins are the key problem in the south of Dagestan, where they have also become a
tool in relations between Russia and the new state of Azerbaijan. There are 205,000 Lezgins in
Dagestan and approximately 180,000 in Azerbaijan. The people were first divided by the Russian
Empire in 1861 between the Baku and Dagestan provinces, and then again by Stalin in 1920
between the Azerbaijan SSR and the Dagestan ASSR. The issue of their unification has been on the
agenda since before the collapse of the USSR. In July 1990, the Lezgin national movement, Sadval,
held its founding congress in the Derbent District of Dagestan. It demanded the creation of a unified
Lezgin autonomous republic, Lezgistan, and proportionate Lezgin representation in the parliaments
of both the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan. An official declaration on statehood and a resolution
on changes in the border between Dagestan and Azerbaijan was issued at Sadval’s Second Congress
in September 1991. 91
The creation of an official border between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan in
December 1991 greatly intensified the problem. In February 1992, Lezgins in southern Dagestan
began a series of mass demonstrations which reached a peak in June and July 1992 when the
Russian government announced that the new international border with Azerbaijan would follow the
former administrative border along the Samur River. This river divides the Lezgin population in two.
Aware of the explosive potential of the issue, the governments of Dagestan and Azerbaijan jointly
requested that Moscow reconsider the proposal and take into account the interests of the respective
populations of the republics. The two governments also expressed sympathy for the Lezgin
demands.
In spite of the joint intervention by Dagestan and Azerbaijan, in September 1992, Sadval
announced that the Lezgins would take imminent action to secede and create an independent
Lezgistan in the southern region of Dagestan and the northern region of Azerbaijan. The ensuing
stand-off culminated in March 1993 with clashes between Lezgin protesters and Azerbaijani police
in the northern Azerbaijani city of Kusary which resulted in the deaths of at least six Lezgins.
91 The Lezgin national movement presently comprises Sadval, the more moderate Azerbaijan-based organization
Samur, and the Lezgin Democratic Party, in addition to an array of small national-cultural associations and
foundations. Its principal leaders are Ruslan Ashuraliev, an entrepreneur; Khadzhi Abduragimov, a Physics
professor; Murudin Kakhrimanov, a retired General, and Nariman Ramazanov, a surgeon. For more information
on the movement see Enver F. Kisriev, “Etnopoliticheskaya situatsiya v respublike Dagestan,” Issledovaniya po
prikladnoi i neotlozhnoi etnologii, No. 72.M., 1994, pp. 25-26.
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