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| Chingiz Bakhtavar |
In an interview with Voice of America, renowned national activist Chingiz Bakhtavar's son, Babak Bakhtavar, shared his memories of his father. He believes that, like many other national activists, Chingiz Bakhtavar became a victim of the struggle he led.
A commemoration ceremony was held on Friday, December 21, in Tabriz to mark the third anniversary of Chingiz Bakhtavar’s death. According to a report on the website of the Azerbaijani Student Movement (AZOH), the event was organized by the Azerbaijani Cultural Center. National songs were performed, and poems were recited.
Chingiz Bakhtavar, who had been arrested multiple times for defending the rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran, was found dead in his office at the Tabriz power station on December 27, 2009. His family and several Azerbaijani organizations have claimed that the national activist died under suspicious circumstances.
The late Bakhtavar’s son, Babak Bakhtavar, spoke to Voice of America about the details of the incident and revealed that international organizations had been contacted regarding his father’s death.
In recent years, political organizations in Azerbaijan and human rights groups have issued statements about the "suspicious" deaths of some prominent Azerbaijani activists in Iran. According to these groups, the Iranian government has been implicated in the deaths of certain Azerbaijani activists, though authorities have attempted to present the deaths as resulting from accidents.
In addition to Chingiz Bakhtavar, other Azerbaijani figures who have mysteriously passed away include:
- Azerbaijani historian, linguist, and educator Prof. Mohammad Taghi Zehtabi, who was found dead in his home in Shabestar, near Tabriz, in December 1998.
- Azerbaijani activist Farhad Mohseni, whose body was found in the El Gölü park in Tabriz in June 2008. Several days before his death, the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Union (ADAPP) reported that he had been detained by security forces, and his family was unaware of his whereabouts.
- Prominent activist Ghulamreza Amani and his two brothers died in a car accident in October 2008. Amani had spent about five years in Tabriz prison due to his activism.
- Prominent activist Ibrahim Jafarzadeh, along with his wife and young daughter, was killed in a car accident near Khoy in September 2011. Jafarzadeh had been arrested at least five times in the last decade of his life. His wife, Mina Kahrubayi, was also an Azerbaijani activist.
- In August 2012, the representative of Varzeqan city in the Iranian parliament, Allahverdi Dehqani, and his family were involved in a car accident. The accident left the deputy injured and resulted in the deaths of his wife, daughter, and son. Prior to this incident, Dehqani had frequently protested the Iranian government's failure to address the harsh conditions faced by earthquake victims in the area, where many were forced to endure winter in tents.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Çingiz Bəxtavərin müəmmalı ölümündən üç il keçir