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| Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran |
According to local journalists and social media reports, the Urmia Municipality has placed signboards with the original Turkish names of neighborhoods and streets in many areas of the city.
In photos published by Urmian activists and journalists on blogs and social media, it is observed that Turkish signboards have been placed in streets and neighborhoods with names such as “Dərəçayı,” “Şəhərçayı,” “Doşapçıxana,” “Dəmirçixana,” “Carçıbaşı,” “Göl Üstü,” “Təndirçilər,” “Ağa Qəbiri,” “Doqquz Pillə,” and “Qapan.”
A few months ago, the Urmia City Council began working on the restoration of original Turkish names to neighborhoods that had been changed to Persian. Some decisions had been made in this regard.
While cultural activists and journalists have criticized the failure to follow certain writing rules on the signboards, they generally welcome the Urmia Municipality’s initiative and hope for its continuation.
According to Iranian laws, the use of non-Persian words, names, and terminology on commercial centers, shops, and billboards is prohibited. The first law prohibiting the use of non-Persian names was prepared by the High Council of the Cultural Revolution a few years after the 1979 Revolution. The current law was passed in the Iranian parliament in 1997.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Urmiyə məhəllələrində türkcə lövhələr
Urmiyə şəhər şurası məhəllələrin orijinal türk adlarını geri qaytarır