Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎613v] (1229/1237)

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state of apprehension and resentment, and spend then ime g
Bolshevik menace and at the hated ex-Shah who brought t en iou ^ ii i u
A gendarmerie officer told me that some villages are vir ua y j
so-called “refugees," i.e., Armenians from Russia, who copy Soviet
armlets as a sign of authority, and who are said to call on ^ neaiest S t ^
garrison for advice and assistance if they meet with opposition 01 it y
gendarmes from Tabriz approach too close. With my experience of thebe f^ y
in Tabriz itself, I am prepared to believe there may be something m these stone^
5. Fierce criticism of the ex-Shah and of the Tehran administratmn both
of the past and of the present, were expressed m an issue of a ^ ^ e ^ s f P ^ ’
Sahind, last week. The editor (a hack journalist of the poorest type and a fo ^
sycophant of the Shah like the rest) bitterly attacked e e which
and oppressors, and called for cheers for the Russian forces o P ’ , £ or
had restored some measure of liberty for this part of y ’ ti i
London which by its broadcasts had reminded people of then constitutiona
rights so long trampled underfoot. The staff of the Turkish Consulate-Genera^
here had to sit up until 4 a.m. translating the whole newspaper ^ ^ .
courier eoing next day to Angora. The Russians are now publishing
newspaper ^Turkish for the local population called For the — mg
a good deal of Communist propaganda of course, but n°*dn n 0
provocative or objectionable as far as local conditions are concernecL fhey have
iust finished a whole week of opera performances by the State Opeia Company
TBaku which were well attended by the local inhabitants, and^to which the
leadino- officials were invited. I myself found the entertainment suipnsmgly
good 'whether as regards voices, costumes, acting or production generally.
A concert by Moscow performers is to take place soon, and plays by Georgian
and Armenian companies are promised in the next few weeks r ,
6. A sudden surprise was sprung last week also by the ^ 0 ^ ein0 i y: ( ^ en ^ :
Khalil Fehimy, who arranged a social evening m the town Imll, to which abou
sixty Persian notables and thirty or so Russian superior officers were ir } vlte ^-
There was a buffet supper, at which speeches were made and toasts drunk by the
Governor-General and by the Russian commanding officer (and as an
unfortunately “ary corollary, by myself) full of the usual diplomatic
insincerities,' but they were well applauded, and certainly there was a thawed
and outwardly friendly atmosphere between Persians and Russians which I had
not seen before. The Governor-General told me afterwards slyly with what
pleasure he had watched the toast to the new Shah being drunk by certain
prominent citizens of Tabriz who spent most of their time decrying the Pahlev
dynasty—past, uresent and future. The Russian brigadier-general s reference to
Anglo-Russian 'friendship and collaboration sounded most refreshingly sincere.
A new chief of police named Sarhang Saif arrived heie last week oin
Abadan. He has been at Tabriz before and was widely respected and praised
for his character and efficiency, so that local police conditions may agyun improve
from the slovenly and corrupt state into which they had fallen during the past
year Not so many stories of burglary and petty disorder are now heard in le
town but I fear that incidents of Russian soldiers (more probably n.c.os., entering
nrivate houses without authority still continue. I spoke to the newly-returned
Maior-General Novikoff about this, and he said that a serious view was taken
of such acts; one Russian caught in the act has been shot recently and others
severely punished ^ ^ ^ ^ to the p ersuas ion of the so-called
Armenian riff-raff that these incursions continue. It is they who wish to rob and
loot the middle-class Moslem houses and so induce a couple of uniformed Russians
rknnmnanv them If the Germans were to come here, these undesirables would
nrobihlv P be willing to do the same, if they dared. One interesting fact I have
noticed for the first time recently is that the local Persian Armenians are now
Winning to become nervous and to talk of leaving Tabriz, whereas it was only
Moslems hitherto who were running away. Some are thinking of going to Russia,
)ifleThe better off would go to Tehran and Isfahan. They have apparently been
hifected ^ h the Tear that “something” will happen soon in Tabriz and
kktoimn most probably a German or Turco-German occupation, and then the
Armenians rmiy receive short shrift, both from the resentful Moslem population,
and perhaps from the Germans who may lump all Armenians together as Russian