Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, August 6, 2016
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| Akbar Pashayi |
In an interview with Voice of America from Tehran, activist Akbar Pashayi commented on the recent protests in Iranian Azerbaijan and other cities where Turks live, explaining the essence of the protests, the slogans raised by the demonstrators, and the demands made. He also assessed the stance of the Tarhe No newspaper, which has published offensive expressions against Turks and women.
Pashayi stated that the protests held by Turks in Shiraz and Zanjan were peaceful, but in other cities, especially in Tabriz, Urmia, and Khoy, cultural protests were dispersed by harsh police intervention.
He emphasized that the main focus of the protesters' slogans and demands was to assert their Turkish identity and protest against racist policies.
"In all cities, the protesters' demands, wishes, and slogans were the same. We saw slogans like 'Haray haray, I am a Turk,' 'Turkish language schools,' 'Death to fascism,' and so on. The protesters focus on two main issues – one is Turkish identity, and the other is protesting against the racist policies in Iran."
According to the Turkish activist living in Tehran, "The protests involved various segments of society, including students, workers, and even employees of government institutions. We even see some of them among those who were arrested."
Pashayi assessed the activities of Tarhe No newspaper over the past years, stating that the newspaper denies the Turkish identity in Azerbaijan and attacks the name of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"Until now, no one has insulted Turks in such an explicit manner as Tarhe No newspaper has. This newspaper has a stable policy. It denies the identity of Turks in Azerbaijan and attacks the name of the Azerbaijan Republic established by Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh. They claim that its name is not 'Azerbaijan' but 'Aran,'" he said.
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| Zanjan - July 28, 2016 |
Pashayi also drew attention to the newspaper's writings about Turkish activists:
"For years, they have propagated that we are Azeris, not Turks. Because of this, they portray Turkish activists or our writers, who publish articles about our Turkish identity or our homeland Azerbaijan, as enemies. They label our scholars like Dr. Zehtabi, Sadiq, and Javad Heyat as spies and traitors."
When reactions and protests began to spread in response to the newspaper's degrading articles about Turks and women, the editor-in-chief of Tarhe No newspaper apologized, stating that "the published story was from Firdawsi’s Shahnameh, and some words were changed inappropriately, causing sensitivity."
However, Akbar Pashayi stated that despite the fact that it is the era of human rights, bringing the views from Shahnameh into the discussion harms the country’s development.
"Part of the foundation of Persian and Iranian nationalism goes back to the interpretation from Shahnameh. In Shahnameh, Iranians are pure in terms of ethnicity, and all those who are not from Iran are portrayed as ugly, as shown in the newspaper's writing, as rootless and soulless. There is an 'us,' that is 'Iranians,' and others are seen as 'Ahriman' and Satan. These ideas are brought into the spotlight in a world where the discourse of human rights exists, and on this basis, a policy against Turks and Arabs is pursued, which obstructs the development of the country," Akbar Pashayi concluded.
Link to the original text in Turkish on VOA Azerbaijan