By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, December 28, 2015
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| Oktay Alp Turk |
"When dominant colonial powers attempt to change the identity of a community, they start by altering names. This is a classic method," Oktay Alp Turk said in an interview with Voice of America, evaluating recent protests in South Azerbaijan against the "distortion of Turkish identity."
Parallel to these protests, users from South Azerbaijan on social media criticized media outlets for referring to protesters as "Azeri" instead of "Turk." Following this backlash, BBC Persian Television announced on November 14 that it would replace the term "Azeri" with "Turk."
Oktay Alp Turk sees this development as a major achievement for Turkish activists in Iranian Azerbaijan:
"This time, we witnessed more concrete actions in the rightful naming of our identity as Turkish and in opposing the fabricated term 'Azeri.' Whether in protests or other events, this issue now takes precedence over everything else."
He emphasized that highlighting Turkish identity in Iranian Azerbaijan is part of a struggle against the identity-altering policies initiated during the Pahlavi regime.
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| Mass Protests in Iranian Azerbaijan - November 9, 2015 (Urmia) |
According to him, "In Iran's modern history, identity-altering and false identity-creation policies were systematically implemented starting with the Pahlavi era. These policies employed notions of Iranian nationalism and Shi'ism, primarily targeting Turks and Arabs. Since these two groups were perceived as not belonging to the so-called Aryan race, their languages were labeled as foreign... Due to their smaller population, implementing these policies against Arabs was relatively easier. However, with Turks, a multifaceted and complex strategy was devised. Over time, their Shi'ite affiliation was subtly used against them to assimilate and even alienate them from their own existence."
The former political prisoner noted that identity policies targeting Turks in Azerbaijan and other regions of Iran have not always been successful:
"This strategy has not always been successful. In modern history, there have been significant clashes between the system enforcing Persian identity and Turks. The recent protests by Turks in Azerbaijan and other regions of Iran can be evaluated within this framework."
Alptürk described the use of terms like "Azeri" or "Turkic-speaking" instead of "Turk" by official Iran as an act of "social engineering." He explained that changing names and identities for assimilation is a classic policy employed by colonial powers:
"When dominant colonial powers seek to change a community's identity, they begin by altering names. This is a classic method. Colonial powers have implemented this approach across Africa, the Americas, and the world. At the same time, resisting name changes has always been a method of struggle for communities seeking to break free from colonialism. We observe this resistance in Iran, particularly among Turks and other non-Persian ethnic groups," said the activist, who lives in exile in Canada.
Alptürk stated that mass protests and various ceremonies have seen extensive efforts against identity and name-changing policies. However, he lamented the lack of significant research on this topic:
"Globally, many books and articles have been published on this subject. But within our community—Turks living in Azerbaijan and other regions of Iran—there is a noticeable gap in research. As the impact and strength of the Turkish cultural and national movement grow, those who enforce identity-changing policies try to discredit protests against false names by portraying objectors as stubborn, fanatical, or engaged in trivial matters. Unfortunately, this sometimes affects activists, who, to avoid being labeled dogmatic, prefer to stay away from many debates. The solution lies in producing more analytical and critical studies in the humanities that explain the current situation."
Alptürk also highlighted that the forced identity policies of the Soviet Union have been adopted by the current Azerbaijani Republic government, influencing activists in South Azerbaijan:
"In the North [Republic of Azerbaijan], Turkish identity has already been replaced by Azerbaijani identity, and apart from the Elchibey era, there has been no will or desire to change this situation. The authorities have accepted this. This has influenced the South as well. Activists sometimes prefer to overlook this issue, either out of embarrassment or to avoid creating divisions among us. However, we are well aware of the official history-writing and identity-creation policies of states, as well as their goals and dangers."
The former political prisoner also addressed a question from Voice of America regarding his own decision, and that of other activists, to change Persian or Arabic first or last names to Turkish ones:
"Of course, in Iran, it is not possible to officially change one’s name to Turkish, but activists use Turkish names. I have officially changed my name while benefiting from the democratic environment in Canada. The main issue is that if our identity and names were not restricted in our society, the number of Turkish names would naturally be much higher. In changing our names to Turkish, we are doing what should be normal in a healthy society," said Oktay Alp Turk.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Oqtay Alptürk: Kolonial güclər kimlik dəyişdirməyi adlardan başlayırlar