Bilal Hatemi: To Understand a Government, One Must Look at the Groups It Oppresses

Recently, the first issue of Maduniyet, a journal published in Ankara, featured research articles on Iran's economic crisis, poverty, discrimination, the problems faced by religious minorities and women, migration issues, as well as drought and water crises.

One of the authors of the journal, Bilal Hatemi, said in an interview with Voice of America that Maduniyet plans to continue its work for a long time, focusing on issues that the Iranian government attempts to suppress and hide.


"In my opinion, to understand a state, rather than reading its structure, different characteristics, or the propaganda it spreads, one must look at the groups that the state oppresses," says Bilal Hatemi.

"That is, we need to look at the groups that the state fears, oppresses, relegates to a secondary status, silences, or tries to silence. The essence of the government can be understood from this."

According to the researcher, Maduniyet aims to expose the unseen side of the Iranian government abroad, including in Turkey.

Hatemi points out that research on the oppressed classes in Iran, including the issues faced by the Turks, is insufficient. He adds that while social media activity is necessary and useful, it is not enough.

"Social media has been very helpful to us. But it has also taken away some things from us. Many issues are no longer examined in detail. Whether it is journalists or other writer friends, they often just touch on topics in one or two short paragraphs. Such brief writings do not serve the work of professionals or institutions. There are valuable works on social media. It is necessary to do that, but detailed work cannot be done there," says the sociologist.

In the first issue of Maduniyet, Bilal Hatemi published an article titled "Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policies in Iran."

"In late 2017, widespread protests began in Iran. These were analyzed by linking them to external factors outside of Iran, such as Turkey and many other countries. In this article, I wanted to show that there is an inequality and poverty stemming from Iran's political, economic, and social structure. The government has no policy to solve this. In fact, the government is applying policies that do not solve the problem, but rather make it worse," the researcher adds.

Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Bilal Hatəmi: Bir hakimiyyəti tanımaq üçün onun əzdiyi qruplara baxmaq lazimdır

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