The Musavat Party was founded in 1911 by Abbasgulu Kazimzadeh, Muhammad Ali Rasulzadeh, and Taghi Nagiyev (in brief, several former members of the Hummet Party) based on instructions sent from Istanbul by Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh. From its founding in 1911 until the February revolution in 1917, the Musavat Party operated secretly. In this first phase, Musavat tried to unite the Muslim and Turkic-speaking nations living in the Russian Empire and the Middle East around the ideals of national freedom and democratic autonomy.

The first program of the Musavat Party consisted of 9 articles and had an Islamic character. Since 1913, after Muhammad Amin Rasulzadeh returned to Baku, the program of the Musavat Party was improved and filled with Turkic ideas. “Achıq soz” newspaper, which was published in October 1915 under the editorship of Muhammad Amin Rasulzadeh, was also published as an organ of the Musavat Party. The newspaper is the first printed organ in our press history “in Turkish literary language”.