 |
| Akbar Abolzadeh |
A few weeks ago, Akbar Abolzadeh, one of nearly 40 activists advocating for Turkish language rights who were subjected to a mass trial in the city of Ahar, East Azerbaijan province, spoke to Voice of America. Abolzadeh detailed the arrests of the activists in past years, the charges they faced, and emphasized that, beyond the activists themselves, their families were also subjected to psychological pressure throughout these processes.
Abolzadeh, who was among those detained on both occasions, explained the proceedings in detail:
“In 2014, during a gathering held in a house in Ahar to commemorate International Mother Language Day, around 70 activists were arrested. Of these, court cases were prepared for 63 individuals. After repeated summonses to court, 23 of them were ultimately called to trial.
In October 2015, during protests sparked by the airing of a children’s program (Fitile) on television that insulted Turks, approximately 30 activists were detained in [Ahar]. Court cases were prepared for 23 of them, which were later combined with the Mother Language Day cases, leading to 15 activists being summoned to trial.”
.jpg) |
| Turkish language rights activists were detained in cities such as Ahar and Tehran on International Mother Language Day in 2014. |
According to Abolzadeh, some of those on trial in Ahar, including Abbas Lisani, Saleh Molla Abbasi, Ebrahim Rashidi (Savalan), Asgar Akbarzadeh, Abbas Nazari, Rahim Gholami, Habib Abolzadeh, Ebrahim Nouri, and Akbar Abolzadeh himself, were charged with “forming and leading opposition groups to disrupt security.”
Others, such as Esrafil Fathollahzadeh, Behzad Abdi, Meysam Azadi, Vahid Faizpour, Shapur Nosratpour, Mohammad Rahmanifar, Fardin Moradpour, Ali Feyzipour, Morteza Mohammadi, Meysam Jolani, Beytollah Barzegar, Mansour Seyfi, and Saeed Mohammadi, were accused of membership in these groups.
The charges of forming and leading opposition groups stemmed from their involvement in the International Mother Language Day event.
The activists who participated in anti-racism protests also faced charges of “assembly and collusion with the intent to disrupt national security.” Those charged included Saleh Mollah Abbasi, Esrafil Fathollahzadeh, Alireza Changizi, Jalal Doroudgari, Hamid Allahverdizadeh, Morteza Shokri, Majid Nagizadeh, Ebrahim Nouri, Vahid Bastami, Soleiman Kazemi, Morteza Safari, Akbar Jahangiri, Mehdi Zanjirbulaqi, Arash Jafari, and Akbar Abolzadeh.
 |
| Those detained during the "anti-racism" protests in October 2015. |
The Ahar court also tried activists who had participated in previous protests supporting Uyghur Turks, although these cases were handled separately on the same day.
Abolzadeh, who was detained for 11 days in connection with the Mother Language Day gathering and for one day during the anti-racism protests, is currently out on temporary release. Other activists who were detained on both occasions share similar experiences.
He highlighted that the psychological pressure extended not only to the activists but also to their families:
“When a court summons arrives, it’s followed by months of waiting for a trial to take place. After the trial, there’s uncertainty about the outcome and what verdict might be issued. This creates immense psychological pressure on families. Additionally, in Ahar, when looking at cultural activities, the prolonged nature of these trials seems deliberate. The authorities aim to prevent these activists from engaging in cultural and social activities,” said the activist.
Abolzadeh also pointed out irregularities in the handling of the cases, including delays and transfers between the courts in Tabriz and Ahar.
“When you look at the process—how the cases were transferred between Tabriz and Ahar—it seems that at one point, the case was dismissed. However, due to pressure, the case was reopened. During that time, some colleagues were informally told that the case had been closed. Now, two years of silence later, it has been reopened. This raises many questions,” added Akbar Abolzadeh.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Əkbər Əbulzadə Əhərdə təşkil olan kütləvi məhkəməni şərh edir