“Istiglal” (Independence)- is a socio-political newspaper published in 1932-1934 in Berlin (Germany) in the Azerbaijani language by Azerbaijani political emigrants who were compelled to leave their homeland after the fall of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The first issue of the newspaper was published on January 10, 1932. The editor of a newspaper published under the slogan "Freedom to people! Independence for the peoples!" was Mammad Amin Rasulzade.

The newspaper was published once every ten days and contained the following headings: 1) “Recent news”; 2) “On the Independence Front”; 3) “Messages”; 4) In Azerbaijan and others. The “Istiglal” newspaper, predominantly published articles authored by M.A. Rasulzade, M.B. Mammadzade, and M. Mehdiyev on issues related to Azerbaijan's independence, internal affairs of the country, and international affairs.

Following the imposition of a ban on the publication of Azerbaijani-language newspapers and magazines by political emigres in Turkey under pressure from the government of the Soviet Union, M. A. Rasulzade, the leader of the Azerbaijani diaspora, relocated the editorial offices of his publications to Berlin, Germany. In the lead article of the first issue of the “Istiglal” newspaper, entitled “Unbreakable Voice”, he reported: “By the decision of the government of the Turkish Republic, the newspaper “Bildiris” (“Notification”) and the almanacs “Azeri Turk”, “Odlu Yurd” (“Land of Fire”), “Yeni Turkestan” (“New Turkestan”), published in Istanbul, have been suspended”.

Important events like the declaration of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the 11th Red Army's conquest of the nation, Baku's liberation from Dashnak and English forces, the Armenian genocide against the local Turkic-Muslim population, as well as noteworthy holidays and mourning dates of other historical events, were extensively covered in the pages of the “Istiglal” newspaper. On May 28, 1933, the newspaper published an eight-page celebration issue that was solely devoted to the 15th anniversary of Azerbaijan's declaration of independence. In addition to reports on critical socio-political events within the USSR, the Azerbaijan SSR and the world, the newspaper also published articles on the history, culture, literature and art of Azerbaijan. The newspaper published numerous articles on Molla Panah Vagif, Abbas Sahhat, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, the history of the Azerbaijani theater and others.

The lead articles in practically every issue of the newspaper were written by M.A. Rasulzade himself. Mirzabala Mammadzade was one of the most active authors of "Istiglal". Occasionally he had multiple articles published in a single issue. Hilal Munshi, Dr. Abdullah Cevdet, and Dr. Mir Yagub Mehdiyev were among the newspaper's principal authors. A few articles were published under pseudonyms such as Israfil, Demircioglu, and V. Nuhoglu.

The last, 64th edition of the “Istiglal” newspaper was published on August 15, 1934.

The only printed source that informed the European public about the Bolshevik occupation of Azerbaijan and the glorious struggle of our people against the regime of invaders was the “Istiglal” newspaper.

Recommended literature:

1. Məmmədov, Rövşən Raqif oğlu. Azərbaycan diasporu və Milli Mətbuat /R. Məmmədov ; elmi red. və ön sözün müəl. V. Arzumanlı. - Bakı: Qartal, 2004. - 168 s.
2. Tahirli, Abid Həmid oğlu. Azərbaycan mühacirəti : tarixi, mətbuatı, mədəniyyət mərkəzləri / A. H. Tahirli ; red.: M. P. Qasımlı, V. Hüseynov. - Bakı : Tural-Ə NPM, 2001. - 344 s.
3. Tahirli, Abid Həmid oğlu. Azərbaycan mühacirət mətbuatı / A. H. Tahirli ; red.: A. R. Rüstəmov, A. H. Rüstəmli. II hissə. - Bakı : Ozan, 2003. - 276 s.
4. Aşırlı, Akif. Azərbaycan mətbuatı tarixi / A. Aşırlı. II hissə : 1920-1990 / elmi red. C. Məmmədli. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2010. - 227 s.