Feb 21, 2004
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| Participants in the First Tabriz Mother Language Congress, February 21, 2004. |
The resolution of the Tabriz Mother Language Congress, which was held on February 21 with the participation of nearly 550 Azerbaijani civil activists in this city, and subsequently signed by nearly three thousand people from various ethnic groups and nations of Iran—especially Azerbaijanis across the country—is, despite the silence of major media outlets and government officials, gradually becoming a national document concerning the realization of the linguistic rights of the peoples and nationalities of Iran.
The Tabriz Mother Language Resolution is, in fact, a detailed elaboration of Article 4 of the well-known charter “Azerbaijan Speaks,” which was published last July and has so far been signed by nearly 600 Azerbaijani civil activists.
The Tabriz Mother Language Resolution—or in other words, the National Document of Tabriz—has been signed not only by Azerbaijani Turks but also by Arabs, Persians, Turkmens, Baluch, Kurds, and Lors.
Resolution of the First Mother Language Conference
We, the participants of the First Mother Language Conference held in Tabriz on February 21, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, and all supporters of mother languages:
- Referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the United Nations,
- Considering the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (Resolution 47/135, dated December 18, 1992),
- Referring to Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (which have not yet been implemented),
- Considering that more than two-thirds of the country’s population possess diverse cultures and languages such as Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Luri, Turkmen, Baluchi, etc.,
We request the respected authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide the necessary legal conditions and material and moral resources to achieve the following demands:
- Teaching of mother languages in primary and secondary schools.
- Use of mother languages in radio, television, and both local and nationwide media in proportion to the national composition of the population.
- Establishment of civil and cultural institutions by the government to preserve, develop, revive, and promote various languages and cultures, and support for non-governmental organizations created for this purpose.
- Respect for the language, religion, sect, historical names, traditional clothing, customs, and ceremonies of all Iranian nationalities, and introducing their spiritual, historical, and cultural values to other compatriots.
- Removal of bureaucratic obstacles to the establishment of political and social organizations (both nationwide and local) that defend the rights of nationalities.
- Serious struggle against chauvinistic ideology inherited from the previous regime, which seeks to assimilate nationalities into a single language and culture and still occasionally influences government policymaking.
Request to UNESCO and the United Nations
We ask UNESCO and the United Nations to support and encourage the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in restoring the civil, cultural, and linguistic rights of the nationalities of Iran, and in promoting policies that support mother languages.
February 21, 2004 (Esfand 2, 1382)
Tabriz – Azerbaijan – Iran
First Mother Language Conference
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Isa Nazari, lawyer, journalist, civil activist, and contributor to the weekly Navid-e Azerbaijan. |
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Abbas Bariz (Abbas Eslami-Barez), poet. |
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| Alireza Sarrafi |
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| The Lachin Children Group Recited Poems About the Mother Language at the Congress |
https://web.archive.org/web/20050205180524/http://www.durna.info/qetname_tebriz.htm