Local politicians in high positions in Iranian Azerbaijan sometimes draw attention to the discrimination imposed on Azerbaijan. Political commentator Karim Asgari, in an interview with Voice of America, says, "Local officials express these criticisms to a certain extent. If they go beyond that limit, the central government will punish them."
According to Karim Asgari, "Before the fire in the Qaradağ forests, there was an issue with deforestation. Both the governor and members of parliament openly expressed their criticisms and protests to the central government on this matter."
The political commentator states that these criticisms could have different objectives:
"First, they represent the state in the region and are obliged to provide answers to the people regarding this issue. There was significant public discontent regarding this matter. And secondly, despite being loyal to the system, they are human beings and see that nature is being destroyed, and the government remains indifferent."
Asgari says that local officials may put forward these criticisms for different reasons, but they cannot go beyond a certain limit.
"These officials can only go so far. If they exceed this limit, they can be punished in different ways," the political activist notes.
According to him, "It is somewhat difficult to link the criticisms of local officials with the discourse of the Azerbaijani National Movement. These officials make these criticisms within the scope of their duties. They do it either to strengthen their position or because they genuinely care about the region. It is not easy to clearly determine this."
During disasters like fires and floods, according to Karim Asgari, the discrimination faced by non-Persian regions becomes more evident.
"A few months ago, floods occurred in Turkmen Sahra and Shiraz around the same time. Of course, life is priceless, there is no difference. However, the flood in Shiraz attracted the attention of almost the entire media, and the government mobilized all its resources there. But the wounds in the Turkmen Sahra region have still not been healed, or when the earthquake hit Qaradağ during the Ahmadinejad era, the problems caused by that earthquake are still ongoing. The center does not pay attention to non-Persian regions in such situations. This is clearly evident," Asgari adds.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
“İran Azərbaycanında təbiətə ziyan dəyir və dövlət buna biganə yanaşır”