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| Bulut Alemdar |
According to Bulut Alemdar, the Iranian government had partly succeeded in the past with its sectarian policies in distancing the Shiite Turkish community from the Sunni Turkmen population. However, in an interview with Voice of America, the national activist claims that after the recent flood disaster in the Turkmen Sahra region, "the unity between Turks and Turkmens was demonstrated."
According to social activists and local media, “the flood disaster united the Turks living in Iranian Azerbaijan and Qashqai El with the Turkmens living in Turkmen Sahra.”
Bulut Alemdar states, "There are several reasons why the recent flood disaster in Turkmen Sahra has become a prominent issue for South Azerbaijan and the Turks of Iran in general... There are strong national and historical ties between Iranian Azerbaijan and Turkmen Sahra."
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A member of the GAMOH organization, Alemdar adds, “The Iranian state institutions often collect aid and send it to warring parties in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Because of this, the people do not trust the government institutions, so they collected the aid themselves.”
Although some of the aid sent from Iranian Azerbaijan to Turkmen Sahra was seized by Iranian police, Alemdar believes the aid campaigns were generally successful.
“This aid truly reached the people who were affected by the flood disaster. Famous scholars and poets from Turkmen Sahra sent video messages thanking Azerbaijan and demonstrating the unity between Turks and Turkmens.”
The activist, who lives in Istanbul, highlights that the Iranian government tried to use sectarian divisions to distance the Turkish and Turkmen communities from each other:
"Whether during the Shah’s reign or after the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian government tried to create sectarian divisions in Turkmen Sahra, but we have never heard of a conflict between Turkmens and Shiite Turks in the region. There was never such a thing collectively.”
He adds, “However, the government brought some Sepah, police, and army forces from the Shiite Turks into Turkmen Sahra. The government used these forces to suppress the democratic demands and uprisings of the Turkmens. Many of these forces were brought from Iranian Azerbaijan. In the early years of the revolution, Shiite-speaking mullahs were also sent to Turkmen Sahra to promote Shi’ism.”
According to Alemdar, as a result of this policy by the Iranian authorities, “the local people in Turkmen Sahra became somewhat distant after seeing Sepah and police forces and mullahs who spoke our language and dialect. But we cannot say that we looked at each other as enemies. It was just that we couldn’t achieve the strong cooperation that could have existed between Turks and Turkmens. This has continued until today, but recently it has changed.”
He explains that the recent rapprochement between these communities is due to the rising national consciousness in both regions and the counterproductive results of sectarian politics.
“In recent times, as our national consciousness and Turkish identity have increased, we have started to get closer. But there is another factor. The Iranian state, having used religion and sectarianism as tools of oppression, has now lost the ability to divide us along these lines. As a result, sectarianism is no longer a divisive force but has become a unifying factor. This is why Turkmens and Turks have grown closer.”
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| The player of the Iranian national team, Turkmen Sardar Azmoun. |
Bulut Alemdar confirms that Sardar Azmoun, the famous Turkmen football player from the Iranian national team, played an important role in the rapprochement between the two communities:
“Sardar Azmoun has become a common figure loved by both the Turkmens and us. I see him as someone with national consciousness. He has often mentioned his love for the Tractor team. A person who loves Tractor loves Azerbaijan, Turks, and Turkishness. Because Tractor is not just a team. It represents the identity of the Turks there. If a survey were conducted in South Azerbaijan, Sardar Azmoun would be the most beloved athlete and football player.”
Alemdar adds, "The Turks of South Azerbaijan do not support the Turkmens just because they are our fellow countrymen. The main reason is that the Iranian state and the powerful Persian nationalists within the state discriminate against the Turkmens because they are Turkish and Sunni. That’s why we try to support them.”
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
“İran məzhəb siyasəti ilə türklər və türkmənləri bir-birindən ayıra bilmədi”