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| Ali Akbar Velayati, a candidate in the eleventh presidential election, during his trip to Tabriz. |
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I will devote my whole life to the white windows.
I traveled for two days in the dark night.
Look closely at this black night —
Even the stars rose to the sky from such a night.
Mr. Velayati, we will not judge you alone. You are—and have long been—aligned with figures who are among the foremost proponents of linguistic and cultural homogenization in Iran, and today your presence here, as a representative of that same assimilationist system, is unmistakable. It is an ideology rooted in chauvinism that, in contemporary Iran and its governance, has become an active force—intended to reshape the true identities of the ethnic groups in Iran, imposing a fabricated identity onto them. The resulting fragmentation of Azerbaijani identity, the instillation of feelings of cultural inequality and cultural humiliation among Turcophone peoples relative to the dominant central culture, the prohibition of learning and being educated in one's mother tongue or using it within administrative, judicial, and educational systems, the glorification of Ancient Iran and its false grandeur, the silencing or distortion of significant currents in contemporary Azerbaijani history within school textbooks (which you yourself have partially authored), this center-centric development—your emphasis on the Azeri language in one of your own writings—and many other such forms of imposition, injection, and restriction, are all concrete examples. You have been complicit in these actions, and for years we have observed your tireless pen—and corrosive words—in these matters across official media.
Mr. Velayati, how can you possibly justify your written and verbal missteps in this direction? Can you even justify them at all?
You are a representative of a system that aims to present certain narratives about the marginalized peoples of this land as if they are inherent truths—and your judgment of us is based precisely on these inhuman descriptions. Descriptions that treat even elite Turc intellectuals—as well as all of us—as identical. “Naïve… yet persevering!” “My Arab brothers are lizard‑eaters!” And (as one satirical writer remarked) surely the Russians are different: they don’t eat lizards, they eat pigs—and caviar and vodka. That’s apparently not objectionable.
Mr. Velayati, truly, if you have not supported such an ideological system—why have you not clearly stated your dissent? Why have you not objected? And is dissent even permitted?
You speak of regional stability. Yet during your tenure in previous governments, we witnessed the genocide of Muslims beyond the “Aras”—in the “Karabakh” region. The atrocities they suffered: you turned a blind eye to them, despite your revolutionary ideals! And your friends, with their claims of material and moral support for Muslims around the world—including in Palestine, Syria, Myanmar, and the Horn of Africa—stood silent. How can you justify the need for amicable relations with a regime that exercises land usurpation from Muslims? Are Muslims beyond the “Aras” any less Muslim? Or are others a special breed? What is your justification regarding the Uyghur Turks? Can there even be one?
Mr. Velayati, we will not—and have not—judged you alone, because you are part of that system, and we are part of the people harmed by your arrival. We say plainly: you would do better to return to the center… back home!
Note:
Today, Tuesday, May 7, Ali Akbar Velayati visited Tabriz University to campaign for his presidential candidacy. I prepared the text above for presentation at the meeting, but neither the host organization nor some of the unfamiliar attendees allowed me—or any Azerbaijani activists—to read it aloud. Perhaps sharing it in this forum is worthwhile. In protest, Azerbaijani activists left the session, and the number of attendees nearly halved.
این برج و بارو که میبینی از درون ترک است
Original Persian Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140731031239/http://ruzbeh-s.blogfa.com/9202.aspx