Open Letter to My Talysh People: Talk About Talysh! Refuse to fade!

İqbal Abilov

Yesterday, on 20th of May, Igbal Abilov, a prominent Talysh scholar, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on fabricated charges. These are his last words*:

‘’Dear friends,

My heart is with my family, my people, my friends, and everyone who has stood by me. My heart is free. From this courtroom, I send my warmest greetings and deepest gratitude to all of you—especially to my kind-hearted parents, my loved ones, my friends, and those who, regardless of whether they agree with me or not, were not afraid of these accusations and came to my hearings.

Thank you to everyone who defended me, who raised their voices—whether loudly in public or quietly in their hearts and consciences—against this persecution.

I offer my special thanks to my dedicated and principled lawyers, Fariz Namazli and Rovshana Rahimova. I am grateful to have met them and to have had them by my side.

I am happy. I believe in equality, and I know many of you do too. No person should ever be deprived of their rights because of their gender, ethnicity, language, religion, or belief.

Just recently, I saw Ahmad Mammadli in the detention center hallway—his face was bruised and swollen. From here, I send him my support and solidarity. Young people like him—honest, educated, and devoted to truth—are the hope and future of this country.

Stay free. Stay smiling. Knowledge and inner freedom are stronger than any prison!

I.

May 20, 2025’’

This open letter is for my beautiful, kind, and courageous Talysh people!

You may know Igbal—or you may not. That doesn’t matter. What matters is this: a Talysh scholar, one of our brightest minds, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for daring to research, write, and speak about the history and culture of the Talysh people—our stories, our identity, our truth.

The real conflict began when Igbal challenged the official narrative of Azerbaijan, which tries to confine us to a cave of quaint folklore—people with charming traditions, a smiling accent with no weight in history. They want us to exist only as colorful costumes, folk songs—Ay Lolo—and exotic food. But we are more than an ethnographic ornament.

Unfortunately, to some extent they have succeeded. Ask yourself: What else do you know about Talysh history? Can you name any intellectuals, poets, writers that our great-grandfathers and grandmothers admired? We are remembered in Azerbaijan only for our “sweet accent” that many of us try to hide; we are presented as a people known only for our “hospitality”. We are only described as the “brave Talysh people” who fought in the context of the Karabakh war. Like more than 35 different ethnic groups in Azerbaijan, who successfully passed the “Karabakh test”, we have been accepted within the hegemonic, forced Turkification ideology with the role of potential “fighters in Karabakh”. And we are reminded of these images tirelessly.

This cage of folklore and exoticism has robbed us of something deeper: the ability to ask who we are, where we stand today, and whether we can shape our own future.

As Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan once wrote, “I am not afraid of death, but I fear the loss of memory.”

So I ask every Talysh who reads these words: whisper our name—Talysh—every day, in your speech, prayers, and lullabies, because speaking loudly can be dangerous. Whisper to your children about dignity and honor, so they carry Talysh values in their hearts.. Read our poetry in quiet corners with your loved ones. Hum our melodies while you cook sirdag and lavangi. Tell our stories while the tea brews.

Do it again and again—because silence is what they want.

Celebrate the Talysh beauty all around us: the Talysh mountains, the Hirkan forests, especially in autumn, when the leaves of the demir ağacı turn golden and red. Don’t forget to inhale the scent of the Lankaran acacia in bloom—our sacred, endemic tree. Plant it in your yard, watch it grow beside your children. Celebrate the Caspian Sea by walking barefoot on its sands; its waves will remind you who we are. Celebrate Talysh beauty in every way you can.

My dear fellows—read, whisper, and celebrate us every day.

Because memory is resistance.

And memory is survival.

Let this be how we keep Igbal’s voice alive.

Let this be how we refuse to disappear.

*Iqbal Abilov's last words (in Talysh)

Xosa duston!

Çımı dıl de çımı xeyzoni, çımı xəlği, çımı duston, bə mı dastək bıə de har kəsiye. Çımı dıl ozode.

Çığın bə har kəsi ıştə səlomi iyən minnətdoəti rosnedəm: bə ıştə hevuj dilinə valideynon, nezərə odəmon, duston, ım ittihamonku nıtarsə, de mı həmfik be-be ya nıbe-nıbe bə çımı mıdofiyə əyştəkəsən, ıştə sədo rost kardəkəson, de im təqibon de barzə vanqi yaən ıştə dılədə, ıştə vicdoni vədə rozi nıbıə bə hərkəsi "sepas" votedəm. Xısusi "səğbi" votedəm bə ıştə mıborizə iyən ədalət pərəstə vəkilon Fariz Namazlı iyən Rovşanə Rəhimova. Şom ki, de əvon oşno bıəm.

Mı hərəbaxtim iyən zınedəm ki, şımənən bənə mı bə insonon bərəbərəti bovə kardedon. Hiç qılə inson ıştə cinsiyəti, milliyəti, zıvoni, dini, məzhəbi qornə hiç qılə həxiku məhrum be əzıni.

Davarda rujonədə çı tecridxona koridoronədə çəş-dimış pandomə Əhməd Məmmədli vindıme. Çığın bəy ıştə səlomi iyən dəstəki viğandedəm! Bənə ey sof, səvədinə, həqiqətpərəstə cıvonon çı kişvəri umun, vəomən.

Hejo ozod iyən sırədim bıbən! Elm iyən daxilinə ozodəti çı QULAQisə zumande!

İ.

20.05.2025