Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, July 18, 2015
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| Izat Quluzade, a student from Urmia University speaks to Voice of America |
"The desire for the Turkish language to be official in Azerbaijan’s educational institutions in Iran is widespread and common," emphasizes Izat Quluzade, a student at Urmia University, in an interview with Voice of America. He talks about student activities in Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkish-Persian bilingual magazines published in universities, students' demands, as well as the restrictions they face.
He mentions that the opportunities for Southern Azerbaijani students in universities are limited, noting that their request to establish a student organization called "Azerbaijan Promotion" at Urmia University was rejected.
"We applied to the university authorities for permission to set up a group called Azerbaijan Promotion, but later we learned that when they evaluated our request, they labeled us as Pan-Turkists," he says.
He further adds that there is no student club or group currently operating at Urmia University focused on Turkish language or the issues of Iranian Azerbaijan.
According to Izat Quluzade, the student group "Ustad Shahriyar," which had operated at Urmia University in the past, was closed by university authorities after the May 2006 events.
He also shared his thoughts on the collaboration of Southern Azerbaijani students with organizations that have branches in all universities in Iran, including the Islamic Society:
"Turkish students want to be recognized for who they are, but the organizations that want our collaboration do not accept us as we are, with our language and identity. They want us to be oriented towards the center like them."
The student, originally from the city of Tufargan in Eastern Azerbaijan, states that in addition to their specific demands like the official status of the Turkish language, student activists also work on issues related to the daily lives, economic conditions, and health of the Azerbaijani population.
Regarding student magazines published in both Turkish and Persian, Izat Quluzade also touches upon the problems faced by students in writing and reading in Turkish.
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"Students in many universities in Azerbaijani cities publish bilingual Turkish-Persian magazines. One of the problems with these magazines is the language issue. Since students are not taught in Turkish, they cannot write or read in it properly. Therefore, there are always debates over Turkish writings, with some saying the writing is difficult, while others argue the level of the writing is either too high or too low. However, such debates do not arise with Persian writings because everyone can write and read in Persian," Izat Quluzade adds.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İzzət Quluzadə: Bizləri pantürk adlandırırlar