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| Bulut Alemdar |
Bulut Alemdar, evaluating the recent increase in pressure on Turks in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran, states that the government crushes internal opposition so that their voices won't be heard when external threats emerge.
In an interview with Voice of America, the Turkish activist, who lives in Istanbul, shared his thoughts on the responsibilities of activists abroad regarding this situation.
Recently, Kazim Safabakhsh, the 21-year-old leader of the ‘Traktor’ fan club in Tehran, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. Additionally, Turkish language rights activists in Tehran, Tovhid Amir-Amini and Kiyanuş Aslani, have faced 9 and 5 years of prison sentences, respectively.
According to Alemdar, the government fears the spread of the strengthened national movement in Iranian Azerbaijan to Tehran:
“Turkish activists, particularly the younger generation, have begun to have an impact through the power of social media. Considering the large Turkish population in Tehran, they’ve started becoming more effective there too. The government wants to prevent this. It says, ‘You’ve worked somewhat in your own regions, but Tehran is a bit of a danger. We will prevent you from being strong in Tehran.’”
He links the 13-year prison sentence for Kazim Safabakhsh to his increased activism in Tehran.
“I connect our friend Kazim Safabakhsh's 13-year prison sentence to his greater activism in Tehran. Although the overall policy towards the Turkish community in Iran has always been the same everywhere, in Tehran they were more fearful,” the political activist says.
Bulut Alemdar believes that during this period of intensified repression, forces belonging to the national movement could focus on cultural and social infrastructure work, as they did in previous years.
“We’ve somewhat moved away from the activities we used to engage in. A political struggle must include cultural infrastructure work. A political struggle needs sociological development. We’ve ignored these aspects a bit and focused more on street movements and social media activities. The government indeed views us as opposition simply because we are Turkish and they can punish us because we say we are Turkish. But still, during this period, we can focus on some cultural and sociological work inside.”
He emphasizes that in the current situation, there is a gap when it comes to organized and comprehensive human rights organizations operating abroad.
“Turkish activists abroad do not face the same dangers as those living inside. Abroad, I see a gap when it comes to an organized and well-rounded human rights organization. We should be the voice of those living inside. We need to deliver our people’s voices to the United Nations, to the parliaments and governments of the countries we live in. Especially in friendly and brotherly countries, we need to be more active and educate the nation,” Bulut Alemdar adds.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Bulut Ələmdar: Hakimiyyət türk fəalların Tehranda effektiv olmasından qorxur