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| Yunes Shameli |
According to Yunus Shameli, the Islamic Republic is applying heavy pressure on Turkish activists in Azerbaijan while also attempting to create an alternative movement to the Turkish people’s national-democratic movement. In an interview with Voice of America, the writer and political activist stated that the recent heavy prison sentences handed to Turkish activists are decisions made by political centers.
Shameli stated, “It is important to closely monitor the increasing severity of the pressure... On one hand, the government wants to create an atmosphere of fear. On the other hand, they are trying to eliminate well-known activists by gathering them and issuing long prison sentences... They give 10-15 year prison sentences to those working on issues related to their mother tongue, as well as to those involved in human rights and legal and cultural activities. This shows that these sentences are the decisions of political centers.”
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| In recent weeks, 5 Turkish activists have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years and 2 years of exile. |
According to the writer, one of the reasons for the intensification of pressure is the lack of sufficient coverage of human rights violations in Iran by global media:
“Almost all of Azerbaijan and other Turkish regions’ national-democratic movements have led to an increase in pressure. On one hand, there are serious events in the region, and because of this, human rights news from Iran is not adequately covered in the world’s media. The severity of the sentences could be due to this.”
Yunus Shameli also drew attention to the creation of the Turkish Regions Faction, stating, “Of course, we should not be opposed to raising the Turkish issue at the state level and discussing it in the parliament. But when considering the heavy pressure, it is clear that the government wants to somehow control the movement and create alternatives to it.”
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Yunus Şamili: Hakimiyyət türklərin milli-demokratik hərəkatına alternativ yaratmağa çalışır