A Bureau of Culture in Azerbaijan, Not a Turkish Language Academy!

Yashar Gulshen - May 22, 2015

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, during his visit to Tabriz, inaugurated the "Foundation for the Culture, Art, and Literature of Azerbaijan." He described this as the fulfillment of one of his election promises and stated, "I am very happy to see that today one of the promises made during the election campaign for the provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and other Azeri-speaking provinces is now being realized."

With this in mind, two major election promises by Rouhani during his pre-election trip have now been fulfilled: after addressing the first promise related to the revival of Lake Urmia, the second promise has now been realized as well. However, the interesting point in the promises of the "Government of Prudence and Hope," which calls itself the government of truth-tellers, is that the realization of both promises has been done in such a way that it truly feels like a masterpiece of somersaults.

The issue with Lake Urmia, of course, is another story. Apart from the occasional rains, which sometimes create false hopes of slowing the lake's final demise, the result of the government's promise after two years in power has been a reduction in the average depth of the lake by 2 meters, which is lower than the previous year. The government's entire program, according to Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, consists of a Geological Survey plan on the necessity of utilizing the private sector's capacity to extract salt and minerals from the lake's brine and also organizing and consolidating wells in West Azerbaijan province, so that after the death of the lake, the region's agriculture will also face ruin.

But the outcome of the promise to establish the "Azeri Language Academy," which some interpreted with good intentions as a Turkish Language Academy, is even more bitter than the promise related to Lake Urmia. The Turkish Language Academy turned into the Foundation for the Culture, Art, and Literature of Azerbaijan, which, in the context of the Pan-Iranist system, is a derivative of the Persian language and culture system. It celebrates Persian-speaking poets and the history of Azerbaijan's contributions to Iran, from Sattar Khan to Mehdi Bakri.

I remembered an article I had written after Rouhani's election, reflecting on the fate of his promises in Tabriz:
"I will ask cultural friends to explain the meaning of the Azeri Academy in such a way that it becomes our own issue. My intention is to say that Dr. Rouhani meant to establish an office for the culture of Azerbaijan Province there. Now, while speaking, I mistakenly said ‘Academy of Culture’ instead of ‘Culture of the Province.’ It shouldn’t be a big deal. What is the Azeri language anyway that it should have its own Academy of Culture?"

Original Text in Farsi