Ladies and gentlemen,
As a representative of the Azerbaijani Federal Democratic Movement, I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers of this conference for providing me the opportunity to speak on behalf of South Azerbaijanis, the largest nationality without political and cultural rights in Iran. The population of South Azerbaijanis is more than three times that of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the north, and our magnitude in terms of political activists and scientific cadres is paramount compared to that of Persians.
Azerbaijanis have always been at the forefront of all democratic upheavals in modern times. Relying on this tradition and legacy, we are currently working to pool our efforts for democratic change for all nationalities in Iran.
To be fair, I must say that all political and cultural Azerbaijani activists share the idea of self-determination, though they may have different perceptions of its implications and how it could be realized in the socio-political context of Iran.
I believe that the term derives its meaning from the nation-state and inherently carries the political rights of a given nation for statehood. As the first historical experiences from the French Revolution have demonstrated, the idea of self-determination originally meant democratic control of a nation over the state apparatus. It is with this understanding of national sovereignty that the Azerbaijani Federal Democratic Movement considers the concept of self-determination and the prospect of democratic governance.
In a multi-national country, the application of the idea of self-determination should entail the common sharing of statehood and equality of the collective rights of all nationalities at different levels of power-sharing. The political tools for such common sharing of statehood and realization of self-determination in a multi-national society can only be a federative state. This necessitates that the distinct identities of different nationalities within a country be recognized, respected, and enshrined in the constitution of the federative state. Modern history provides rich sources of experience on this matter, from the host country of this conference to Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, and others, as well as the current movement in Europe in that direction. It also offers theoretical insights, considering that most nationalities in Iran, including Azerbaijanis, are a divided nation. Moreover, distinct national identities are one of the defining features of federalism in multi-national countries.
The present political structure of our country does not provide even the minimum opportunity to reshape it on a federative basis. Additionally, it is rigid and resistant to reform.
Within the context of Iran, we face a double anomaly in the political structure that affects nationalities: first, the existence of an ideological religious system with multi-level apartheid policies affecting the entire society, which I categorize as totalitarian; and second, the contradiction of a single national political structure based on the dominance of one nationality, namely the Persians, alongside the forced imposition of the Farsi language in a multi-national, multicultural society, where non-Persians compose the majority of the population. This situation has caused ideological ambiguity even among opposing groups. Some may equate any claims for rights with separatism, while others may believe that the establishment of individual rights or the observation of human rights could normalize the political system. While these steps have merit, they cannot guarantee the requirements of a federative state, which fundamentally relies on the collective rights of different nationalities within the defined borders of a single state.
We can imagine the removal of the current totalitarian ideological political system from the political landscape of Iran without any change in national oppression, as happened during the 1979 Revolution, which saw a shift from monarchy to Islamic Republic and an immediate reinforcement of national oppression. However, establishing a federative state demands a change in the foundations of the political structure that currently privileges one nationality in a multi-national society, as well as a change in the dominance of the Farsi language at the expense of other languages. Preserving a one-dimensional political structure will create constant tension within a multi-national society, preventing peaceful coexistence.
One of the negative effects of national discrimination is the creation of a first-world/third-world dynamic within Iranian society, as all physical and human development investments are primarily directed toward Farsi-speaking areas, even when lacking economic rationality. The growing importance of knowledge as a social capital will push oppressed nationalities further to the margins of society. In my view, national discrimination plays a role in class formation, relegating these groups to unskilled worker status within the dominant nation.
Now, I pose the question: can a democratic system be imagined without a democratic solution for the issues faced by suppressed nationalities in Iran? I believe that the democratic resolution of nationality issues is one of the main building blocks of democracy in our country. I also believe that it is part of a simultaneous process of democratic change in Iran. We cannot have one abstract phase of realizing so-called "democracy" and another phase of addressing nationality oppression. Eliminating national discrimination is inherently part of any democratic change. To achieve this, it is not enough to replace an ideological religious government with an apparently secular system. While secularism and free elections are necessary elements of good governance, they cannot, on their own, guarantee the existence of a fully democratic system. We need to take further steps. We must replace the one-dimensional political structure, based on the dominance of the Persian nationality and disguised under the false notion of a single "nationality of Iran" with the pretense of Farsi as the common language of all nationalities, with a pluralistic, multi-national, and multi-lingual political system that reflects the reality of Iranian society. Iran is merely a geographic designation and does not denote any national identity. Its size and shape have never remained unchanged. Therefore, it would be a misrepresentation of history to identify all nationalities with a common indicator of Iran as a nationality, which is practically interpreted as Persians, along with the Farsi language.
In conclusion, any democratic solution for eliminating national discrimination and establishing a democratic federative political system must come from within Iranian society. Democracy cannot be realized through the military invasion of external forces. Such interventions may create lasting chaos but will not lead to democracy, as evidenced by the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. We do not believe that democracy can be built on the corpses of violence and military intervention. Even if it may seem like climbing a rocky mountain, Iranian society has sufficient maturity and civic wisdom to achieve the noble goal of democratic governance, accommodating the wishes for equality among all nationalities in Iran. This is only possible through the convergence of all democratic movements within the country: solidarity among nationalities, the movements of women for gender equality, and the struggles of teachers and labor movements for social justice and freedom. To build a true democratic political system, we need not only solidarity among all nationalities in Iran but also to internalize the drive for social justice and the freedom of the masses, along with the ideal of gender equality in all areas of social life, including the right to self-determination. In this case, the building blocks of democracy will be laid down through the convergence of various civic movements, and the establishment of a democratic federative system will be within reach. As David Hume once said, "Force is always on the side of the people, and whenever it rises, its will be obeyed."
