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| Dr. Nasib Nasibli |
Nasib Nasibli affirms that "the struggle for the mother tongue has been one of the main directions of nation-building in both Northern Azerbaijan and Southern Azerbaijan" while also asserting that "the language factor is more significant for Turks living in Southern Azerbaijan and Iran." In an interview with Voice of America, the historian also analyzed the role of religion, history, and culture in the nation-building process on both sides of the Araxes River.
According to the Ankara University professor, the demand for official status for the Turkish language has persisted in Iranian Azerbaijan since 1991, as it did in Northern Azerbaijan:
"The struggle for the mother tongue has been one of the main directions of nation-building on both sides. In the 19th century, in Northern Azerbaijan, there was a constant demand for education in the mother tongue and for its recognition as an official language. Today, the nation-building process has also taken root and advanced considerably in Southern Azerbaijan. Especially after 1991, it has developed rapidly. Looking at recent events and slogans, we can see that the demand for official status for the mother tongue is central to the movement."
Nasib Nasibli also evaluates the reasons why the issue of the mother tongue is at the forefront of the national movement in Iranian Azerbaijan:
"Assimilation policies against Southern Azerbaijan have primarily targeted language. In Iran, Shi'ism is widespread, there are shared aspects of historical heritage, and certain cultural commonalities exist, but the greatest difference lies in the mother tongue," says the former ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Iran.
According to him, "The nation-building process in the Republic of Azerbaijan has followed a different path. This is because its neighbors are ethnically distinct in terms of religion, history, and culture, and over the past 200 years, Northern Azerbaijan experienced foreign regimes. These were Christian states. However, the situation in Iran is different."
The historian suggests that comparative analyses of the role and significance of the mother tongue in the nation-building processes on both sides of the Araxes could yield interesting results.
"Of course, there has also been a struggle over language in Northern Azerbaijan, and we still see its continuation today. However, in Southern Azerbaijan, this issue is taken much more seriously, and rightly so, [nation-building] is based on the language. For this reason, we see that both the Shah and the Islamic regime implemented assimilation policies through language. But this policy has ultimately failed," he states.
"The National Movement of Azerbaijan correctly identified its goals. The language issue was placed at the center. At the same time, the greatest pressure was also placed on the language. There are very few examples in the world where, in the 21st century, the language of a 30-million-strong ethnic group, constituting approximately 40% of the country's population, is banned," Nasib Nasibli adds.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Nəsib Nəsibli: Güney Azərbaycan hərəkatında ana dili məsələsi mərkəzdə durur