Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎22r] (44/1237)

-3-
On i^ov^aber 14tU*f the announced in itt, ria«8pap«r
that the *'first phase of its organization was com lete'*.
That is, that the constitution of the Party oomnitteea in all the
tome ub settled and these coaaaitteea had hegua work. The next pha-
tne
organisation of Pariy ooiaaittoes in the villages ‘uhich are
would be be^uA
te« f
iVen more important than tn-- tovaia” would be be&^a ! orthwith* The
0endm? nerio, it was da cl ared» aero obstruct lag the fomation of vil-
Ir.ge co.caitteee and pr ventiAdg the Party's rep re s «nt at i v - a rrsa
c 0 -1 .a k t o i Ci i r i s. fh i s mu» u atop#
On hovaaiber 1 5th# oil the Foreign Oon:- ilatea in Tgjriz, and
the Oaptrisr of tne French Ostholic hasori^t mission, raoaivad
QOiiwL in Persian and furki of © letter fr ?■& the Party 1 c Ootmittea
for ^ocit 1 Affairs# setting forth the people’s grievances against
the cruelty ana violence of fno local ropresejatativea of the Tehran
doveruaent, eepecisily the gendarmerie against when several specific
instancefi oi atrocities were alleged* The Consul& were asked to
bring the ^ lament at iun© and sufferings of ttu cpprjsssd people of
Aaerhai4ua M to thv ears of the Democratic Powers and the civilised
world# (It seemed a little inconel, tent, after this rv 3110 st» to
^ut the ConLule off froit co^.unic<f:ti *n with the outside ^^rld)#
The Party, however, wae not relying m the conocisn.cc of the
civilized world al me to r; c reae the w;. ong.. oi the people# Oa
Hovismbur 16th# it was learns cl that an&fed nemhers of the Party li^d
attacked end dls rmed the gen.inraee In several villager round
jdlw&eh, in Mar^igeh sued in vill&^et on thb road from Tabriz to
iliunaueb# There vat res few details, but it v>at els nr that a
concerted uxovement h&c- begun# Telegraphic comiiunicatlrx. with
ki.^neh# Aai*a...>«h and -d Aru.vb was cut# hater that evening cd :imuaicat-
iou with Tehran was r< >star«d lor a f«i hours, ahovixte* that the
Democrats were not in oojaplet control oi Xlianeh, and the Persian
bauimuuduUt ut Tftbris ^ve able • 0 get a me image through#
The next naming, amid r x cl. uid of rumours end alarms in the
town it emerged that the Party had disarmed fix geniiursikerle in
Sarab, neor Ardeoil, in uugt of the poe-ts r <und #»Iiea©h, thou h not
in the town itself# in v >..rsh ihr# <ljabahliir, M rai-uh and Mlsndush,
aa vuli, '••resuftiahly, ae Uu most villages between these points and.
Tabriz* mu haa bce-i dir.trLbutc liberallys n, 0 rifles in the
i .. i m, t - » lorry T-),,- .. -.a *. i ,wh .n ,300 rifle ; v n Marageh
li. 01 ur»»d Democrats controlled ihr road to Tehran ana the
to huniatan (ana the now to Aermcnshah) and sera stopping and
a u a
* iifl* ■
UQ Uu
retiring ill trsvellere end detailing all Persian army officer**
There aad been some casualtie 3 ; a Peraimn army officer uescrihed
thw resistance of the troops and gendarmes at a -rah, for instance#
as lcn te and iierce - to tiw^ last cartridge, in fact * but thia had
rather a ring of aaviug acnour at 1 m ant•
The farsiaa bom^an,ant t ie 1 vainly to communicate with Tehran
: u4 aln ay telegraph# he then ^sk#d the 3ivie t General to permit the
Ue^aton of r« ini or cements to Misneh, AJ ab sh ihr m-i iil^iaab • The
Soviet 3-narcl sft«*r wuch u^lay said he woull allow thu troops to go
if Dttrakh&hhhl wanted, out he M strongly advised aim not to scad
t AtUU •
On b'ondey, Koveaber 18th#, the Farty tme ^.ivertiaed $ public
mtvtli#g in Tabriz which would b« attended by representatives of the
villages# Aotiecr were fc.ent round calling on the merchants to
close the Luuutr uni attend the meting. The bazaar closed, and
nleo itoat ox the shops in the mrin sti’est# but few merchants and
ahop-kw v.pcra attendee the met ting in the . 7 ftc-rnoon. The crowd,
outside the Municipality «t 4#550, w«s eetimsted at 1#5X# ('The
X'crty pt.ptr claimed next day 30, >00). It va composed chiefly
of factoiy workers, with a feir number of peasants.
The Cheiman of the meeting was d i&far Plshavarl# leader of
the Domoorat Forty, and the principal speakers were Gnuiam Eesa
ilhani,tixe former M^yor of Tabriz, ^nd Mohamed birlya, chairman of
the Workers * Union# Ilhrmi mad# tiir^c pointes the postponement of
the Mu jilt elections it illegal; Azerbaijan vill hold its *1* eti^ns
at ti*t- proper time undtr th^ leadership of the .democratic Tarty 1
clectioru for a Frovincial Council (Anjuman lyalati) will b^ held
/et