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| Simin Sabri speaks at the founding meeting of the 'Solidarity for Freedom and Equality in Iran' alliance. |
Ten political organizations opposed to the Islamic Republic have announced the formation of an alliance called “Solidarity for Freedom and Equality in Iran.” Simin Sabri, the spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Democratic Union (Birlik), one of the organizations in the alliance, states that the influence of the Turkish community must be increased within this alliance.
The founders of the alliance have declared that they will fight to overthrow the Islamic Republic in order to restore republicanism, democracy, secularism, and federalism in Iran.
"Nine organizations had already united, and we were invited to join as the tenth. We were told that they had been working on this for years. Some groups came and went. One group opposed certain points, another didn’t agree on others. Some didn’t join the goal of overthrowing the regime, and some were not in favor of the right to self-determination for nations,” she explained.
After discussions, the alliance was formed based on agreement among the 10 organizations on 14 key points.
Four Kurdish parties, along with one organization each from the Turkish, Arab, and Baloch communities, and a total of seven organizations representing non-Persian communities have joined the “Solidarity for Freedom and Equality in Iran” alliance. The remaining three organizations are politically left-leaning groups.
Following the news about the formation of the alliance being spread through Persian-language media outside of Iran, some activists from the national movement have criticized the alliance for not properly representing the Turkish community relative to its influence in Iran.
Simin Sabri responds, “We too feel our own isolation and minority status there. To those who criticize us, I say it’s great that they notice our weakness. Please, come to the stage! Please join us. While we hold one side of the work, they can hold the other. We are just one organization, even though we represent 40 million people. If there are four Kurdish groups there, at least six Turkish parties should have been included.”
The spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Democratic Union believes that no change will be possible in Iran without taking into account the non-Persian populations and their organized forces.
“Of course, we want to grow. If people from the non-Persian nations see their interests and views reflected here, they should come and join us. Also, there may be groups in the center who believe in democracy and federalism. We can talk to them, but without considering the non-Persian nations and their organized forces, no change in Iran, especially overthrowing the Islamic Republic, will be possible,” added Simin Sabri.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
"Demokratiyaya inanan qüvvələri bu ittifaqa dəvət edirik"