Blood feud turns out to be a modern trend in Azerbaijan

Three persons who were injured in a family killing at a market in the Agstafa District have already been discharged from hospitals, a public official reports today. In Azerbaijan, the tradition of blood feud has no deep roots and is being formed under the influence of soap operas on the relevant topic, psychologists explain.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 17, during a shooting at a market in the village of Beyuk Kesik in the Agstafa District, four persons were killed, and three others were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.

The incident was the result of a conflict that arose between the Musaev and Suleimanov families because of land disputes in 2006. In 2007, the conflict led to the deaths of the father and an uncle of Elnur Suleimanov, who then was 13 years old. Brothers Shamiddin and Novruz Musaev were arrested then. After they had been released, Elnur Suleimanov kept watch over them and shot and killed them from a Kalashnikov submachine gun together with their elderly mother. Other killed and wounded persons, including Zeinab Djalilova, the fourth deceased person, fell accidental victim to the conflict, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by a source from the law enforcement bodies.

All three wounded persons fully recovered and returned to their houses, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed today by Elshan Guliev, the administration head of the village of Sadygly in the Agstafa District.

The incident in the Agstafa District was not the only conflict in recent years on the basis of blood feud, the "Meydan TV" reported in its article "V means vendetta" posted on July 29.

In particular, in August 2018, a close relative of a man who several years earlier died as a result of a fatal blow got from karate trainer Nizami Ismailov, a resident of the city of Agdash, killed Nizami Ismailov from a firearm.

According to the "Meydan TV", in Azerbaijan, cases of blood feud also took place at the beginning of the 20th century, but in Soviet times, newspapers stopped reporting any cases of blood feud, since they were considered as an "atavism."

According to psychologist Tariel Faziloglu, the tradition of blood feud has no deep roots in Azerbaijan and has formed as a recent trend in connection with an increase in the showing of Turkish soap operas on the relevant topic.

In Azerbaijan, conflicts based on blood feud occur, since victims and their family members are not satisfied with the punishments imposed by the courts, psychologist Sabina Abdullaeva explains to the "Caucasian Knot".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 1, 2019 at 02:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.