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| Alireza Sarrafi |
Dear fellow speakers who cherish their mother language!
Esteemed compatriots who have devoted themselves to organizing Mother Language Day congresses and ceremonies!
Eight years ago, UNESCO designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day. In many countries, official institutions organize mother-language celebrations on this day. In our case, however, just as every opportunity for our nation to express its love for its mother language has been restricted, this significant and meaningful occasion was—for shame—completely concealed and went unmentioned by our official media for several years.
Finally, through the cooperation of many friends, the First Mother Language Congress was held in Tabriz on February 21, 2004. Participants came from across Azerbaijan, including Urmia, Khoy, Maragha, Zanjan, and Ardabil, as well as Tehran and Karaj.
One of the congress’s major achievements was its comprehensive resolution. Drawing upon United Nations conventions, the resolution called for the realization of our linguistic rights. It was adopted unanimously and, in less than one week, received the support of 3,333 signatures. Translated into four languages, it was submitted to all responsible institutions within the country, as well as to UNESCO and the United Nations. Thus, the First Mother Language Congress and its resolution became one of the golden pages in the history of our national movement.
Although the second and third congresses were prevented from taking place in 2005 and 2006, Mother Language Day began to be celebrated like a festival in homes throughout our cities. In doing so, our people reaffirmed that they would not relinquish their mother-language rights.
Despite this, some of the gentlemen occupying positions of authority remained deaf to our nation’s peaceful movement and legitimate demands, and were exceedingly slow to recognize even its most fundamental human rights.
Rather than peacefully untying, through dialogue in official venues, the knot that foreigners had fastened around the feet of our people eighty years earlier, these officials—through their incompetence and misguided policies—twisted it further and attempted to tighten it. They answered our sincere questions with closed doors.
On May 22, 2006, however, our people—shouting, “Either death or my language!”—could no longer be contained within homes and halls. They poured into the streets and challenged the enemies of our language across the breadth of Azerbaijan. In doing so, we opened another golden page in the history of our movement.
It seems to me that this period may be regarded as a new phase in the history of the national movement because of its alignment with internationally recognized norms and its modern, contemporary, and courageous discourse.
Tomorrow may already be too late. Officials who sit above the people while humiliating their own nation must open their ears and find the courage to listen to the legitimate demands of their Turkish compatriots. History has demonstrated that a nation that patiently, peacefully, and civilly demands its national rights is also capable, when the time comes, of confronting its enemies in other ways.
Our people are among the nations that have resisted most persistently and paid the heaviest price for mother-language rights. If we recall that only sixty years ago we sacrificed 25,000 of our sons and daughters to secure our national rights—foremost among them the right to our mother language—we can say that we have lost the equivalent of one martyr every day.
For this very reason, I would argue that although Mother Language Day is an international occasion, it may also be commemorated as one of our most intimate and distinctly national celebrations.
As one of the organizing committee members of the First Mother Language Congress, the prohibited second and third congresses, and the related Mother Language Day ceremonies held in Tabriz, I extend my congratulations—both personally and on behalf of all our national activists who worked wholeheartedly for these congresses and ceremonies—to every compatriot who loves their people and language.
Happy Mother Language Day!
At the same time, I extend my hand in solidarity to those who, despite facing intense pressure in 2007, have courageously organized Mother Language Day congresses and ceremonies. I wish them success and hope their events proceed successfully.
I am certain that this legitimate, civil, and patient movement of our nation will silence our foul-mouthed enemies and knock the weapons of slander and condemnation from their hands.
The future belongs to us.
Long live our nation, which preserves its existence!
Long live our mother language!
Tehran
February 19, 2007 (Bahman 30, 1385)