In the autumn of 1906, the creation of the national defense party “Difai” of Azerbaijan coincides, which began extensive activities in Baku and in several regions of Azerbaijan and gained fairly strong support among the population.
To this day, the attitude to the question of the creation of the “Difai” party by whom, when and where is ambiguous. In the Declaration of the “Difai” Party it was clearly written:
“As before, if the Armenian terrorist organizations commit treasonous and cruel attacks against Muslims, they will receive a worthy response from us, and the Caucasus will become an endless bloody scene. Let the Dashnak party be sure that we will never be Armenians for the disgrace of our own nation. We will not allow our nation to build happiness and prosperity.
On the visible side of “Difai” was the fight against Armenian terrorism, and on the invisible side was the fight for our independence. Therefore, “Difai” is sometimes considered the predecessor of Musavat. Karabakh lords and Baku millionaires played a special role in financing “Difai”.
In Shusha, the prosecutor of the Russian military court, known among the people as the “mad judge”, was dismissed by the decision of the Shusha Committee of “Difai” for helping the Armenians. Bannikov, police chief in Ganja, and Felikinski, police chief in Tartar, were dismissed by party decision for the same reason. The “Difai” sect has many similarities with the Ottoman “Ittifad ve Taraqqi” sect. Both factions opposed tyranny, fought against terrorism, and acted as partisan movements.
“Difai” included a good number of unionists: Nagy bey Sheykhzamanli, the father of Nasib bey Yusifbeyli, Yusif bey Yusifbeyli, Khudadat bey Rafibeyli and others can be cited as examples. Even the fact that in 1918 Ahmed Bey Agaoglu was the political advisor to the unionist Nuru Pasha is proof of this.
On March 4, 1908, the governor of the Caucasus signed an order to cancel the activities of “Difai”. Members of the organization were found by the police and sent to prisons in different regions of Azerbaijan and Russia. “Difai” leader Ahmet Bey Agayev has to travel to Türkiye due to pressure from the government. This puts an end to the existence of “Difai”.
More on the Baku TV plot:
Why did the “Difai” organization, known for its extortion, alarm the millionaires of Baku?
