Davud Turan: The National Movement Must Address the Demands of Various Social Classes

By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, March 28, 2018

Davud Turan

According to Davud Turan, if the "South Azerbaijan National Movement" seeks to attract various social classes within society, it must be able to incorporate their demands into its political discourse.

Speaking to Voice of America, the political commentator discussed groups in Iranian society fighting for economic justice and gender equality.

"In Iran, people's public protests against economic conditions could have become politicized, but there was no political organization to guide these protests. In other words, they were not organized and remained in limbo... It was a natural process born from within society because people are seriously struggling with livelihood difficulties," said Davud Turan.

He emphasized that these protests were not merely passing events:

"They were not politicized, but they were also not just passing incidents. This was an outburst of anger that had been building up in society for years... There will be further waves of this because the Iranian government struggles to find a solution."

Highlighting the efforts of various political currents to attract new protester classes, Davud Turan stated, "During the recent events, some political organizations in Iran tried to steer the protests. But they were ineffective because they lack social bases. Whether monarchists or the People's Mujahedin Organization, none succeeded."

A group of Azerbaijani Turkish student activists at Tehran University protesting against ethnic and linguistic discrimination.

According to him, "Existing political currents want to capitalize on these protests for their own benefit. Everyone wants to pull the movement toward their own cause."

In Davud Turan's view, Turkish activists and organizations within the national movement must address the demands of poor groups and women in their programs to attract these groups' attention.

However, he noted that the national movement has not yet adopted a social-democratic and feminist discourse.

"The South Azerbaijan National Movement needs to incorporate those discourses... If you want to make promises to your society, you need to address people's demands. What are their primary demands? What do they ask for first? If you cannot combine their demands with your discourse and present them effectively, you will not achieve results... You must consider the needs of the women or workers living there and align their aspirations with your movement," the political commentator added.

---

Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Davud Turan: Milli hərəkat müxtəlif siniflərin istəklərinə diqqət yetirməlidir