Famed Azerbaijani poet Ahmet Cevat honored on death anniversary

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Renowned Azerbaijani poet Ahmet Cevat has been commemorated on his 84th death anniversary.

The author of the lyrics of Azerbaijan's national anthem and the famed poem Cirpinirdi Karadeniz (The Fluttering Black Sea), Cevat was executed upon the instructions of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1937 for being a counter-revolutionary with pro-Turkic views.

As the leader of a totalitarian regime, Stalin ordered the exile of millions of people from various nations after coming to power in the Soviet Union in 1924.

Accused of trying to imbue young Azerbaijani poets with nationalist and pro-independence ideas, Cevat was executed on Oct. 13, 1937.

He is remembered with respect not only in his country, but also across the Turkic world, particularly in Turkey.

Emphasizing the love for country, nation, and national feelings in his poems, Cevat is well-known in regions where people of Turkic descent live.

He was born on May 5, 1892 in the village of Seyfeli near Ganja city in present-day Azerbaijan and besides his poetry, he was also a thinker, teacher, professor, and public figure, helping orphans and refugees in Kars, Erzurum, and other cities as the member of a charity group.

The best of Cevat's poetry was related to the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, established on May 28, 1918, but toppled after roughly two years by the Soviet Union.

In his poem "O, soldier!" Cevat praised the Caucasus Islamic Army, which came to the aid of Azerbaijani people in 1918.

On Sept. 15, 1918, the elite Ottoman force under the leadership of Nuri Pasha (Killigil) was sent by then Minister of War Enver Pasha to what is today Azerbaijan in the closing months of the World War I following a plea from the region's people.

The force was made up of Turkish and Azerbaijani soldiers and completed its mission in September, liberating Baku from Armenian militants and Bolsheviks and laying the groundwork for the country's independence decades later in 1991.

It is known that Cevat gifted a copy of his collection of poems Goshma -- published in 1916 -- to Nuri Pasha.