Voice of America, November 15, 2015
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| Sadeq Saba |
Following mass protests in Iranian Azerbaijan, reactions against media using the term "Azeri" have increased.
On November 14, in the Dideban program aired by BBC Persian, viewers raised objections to the use of the word "Azeri" in news about the mass protests in Iranian Azerbaijan. Sadeq Saba, the director of the Persian service, stated that from now on, BBC Persian would use the term "Turk."
"What we see now is that both the Turkish people call themselves 'Turk,' and others recognize them as Turks. Therefore, the first term we will use at BBC [Persian service] to refer to this ethnic group in Iran is 'Turk,' and there is no other word," said Sadeq Saba during a live broadcast.
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| Urmia, Iranian Azerbaijan - November 9, 2015 |
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| "I am a Turk, not Azeri" - Zanjan, Iranian Azerbaijan - November 9, 2015 |
After the mass protests initiated by Turks in Azerbaijan provinces and other regions of Iran on November 9, slogans such as "Hurray hurray, I am a Turk," "I am a Turk, not an Azeri," "End racism against Turks," and "Make Turkish an official language" were chanted. Following this, protests against the use of the term "Azeri" have increased in the media.
BBC Persian has responded to these protests, which have particularly spread widely on social media.
"You call Kurds 'Kurds' and Arabs 'Arabs.' But why do you call Turks 'Azeris'... We are Turks, and our language is Turkish. Most of us live in Azerbaijan, but we are found everywhere in Iran. We are not Azeri or Azeri-speaking," said messages from viewers Sara and Parviz, featured in the Dideban program.
Sadeq Saba further emphasized that the term "Turkish-speaking" would not replace the term "Turk," but would instead be used for writers and poets who write in the Turkish language.
After the recent protests, the BBC Persian service generally referred to the protesters as "Turks." However, earlier in its programs, it had used terms like "Azeri" and "Turkish-speaking," which had caused reactions from Turkish activists.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
BBC Fars xidməti Azəri deyil Türk sözündən istifadə edəcəyini bildirib