Khanlar Safaraliyev

Khanlar Safaraliyev
Xanlar Səfərəliyev
Born 1878
Qoçəhmədli, Füzuli
Died 1907 (aged 29)
Nationality Azerbaijani

Khanlar Safaraliyev (Azerbaijani: Xanlar Səfərəliyev) (c.1878 – 19 September 1907) was an Azerbaijani oil field worker, labor organizer, and Moslem social democrat. In 1907, he helped lead a successful strike at the Baku oil fields. Subsequently, he was shot by an assassin, Jafar (a foreman in the oil fields), and died several days later. The Bibi Eybat District Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, declared a general two-day strike and unsuccessfully demanded that the Baku Oil & Gas Producers Association cease protecting Khanlar’s murderer, and also the manager, Abuzarbek, who allegedly assisted in the assassination. 20,000 workers demonstrated at Khanlar’s funeral.

Later, 29 September 1907, Joseph Stalin delivered a speech at Khanlar’s graveside. In 1938, the city of Helenendorf in Azerbaijan was renamed in honor of Khanlar Safaraliyev, but in 2008 the city was once more renamed to Goygol.

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