Musavat

The Müsavat Party (Azerbaijani: Müsavat Firqəsi, from Arabic: مساواة musāwāt, lit. 'equality' or 'parity') is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat. The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 and 2000 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan by the Heydar Aliyev regime. At the time, it was one of the major opposition parties in the country. Musavat was founded in 1911 in Baku as a secret organization by Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, his cousin Mahammad Ali Rasulzade, Abbasgulu Kazimzade, and Taghi Nagioglu. Its initial name was the Muslim Democratic Musavat Party. The first members were Veli Mikayiloghlu, Seyid Huseyn Sadig, Abdurrahim bey, Yusif Ziya bey and Seyid Musavi bey. Early Musavat members also included future Communist leader of Azerbaijan SSR Nariman Narimanov. This initiative from Mahammad Amin Rasulzade came when he was living in exile in Istanbul. In its early years before, the First World War, Musavat was a relatively small, secret underground organization, much like its counterparts throughout the Middle East, working for the prosperity and political unity of the Muslim and Turkic-speaking world.