ABSTRACT
The historical background of the modern Soviet contention that the Azeris of Iran and the Soviet Union are one people and one nation is based on the generally accepted scholarly interpretation of the dating and impact of the waves of successive migrations into the area they occupy. In a Soviet attack on the treatment of the Azerbaijan question in Iranian media, an Iranian journalist is quoted as saying: The reason that Iranian Azerbaijan was invaded by outsiders was the Turk language. Soviet sources claim that the establishment of a Bolshevik presence in Iranian Azerbaijan began among the Muslim workers of Baku. In Soviet eyes, an Islamic movement coupled with nationalism has always posed a serious threat. Following the temporary Bolshevik victory in Azerbaijan in 1918, Kuchuk Khan sent a delegation to Baku to plead for Soviet support for his movement.
