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| Mehdi Neimi |
Mehdi Neimi evaluates the level of migration from Iranian Azerbaijan to other regions of the country as "abnormal" and "thought-provoking." According to the economist speaking to Voice of America, the population of some cities in Iranian Azerbaijan has almost doubled in migration to cities like Tehran.
However, he states that "migration from South Azerbaijan has other causes."
He believes that due to the incorrect and unbalanced industrialization during the Pahlavi era, large migrations from poor regions to industrialized areas began:
"In South Azerbaijan, migration occurred from some of our villages to cities that were somewhat more developed than those villages. This led to the depopulation of the villages. However, over time, many moved not only to those cities but to other major cities of Iran, that is, regions outside Azerbaijan. Especially Tehran, as well as Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman, and Bushehr. Migration occurred massively to wherever there was a piece of bread. We see that this happened very rapidly during the Pahlavi period."
Mehdi Neimi says there is a disturbing abnormality in the level of migration from Iranian Azerbaijan:
"If there was migration in proportion to the population of the Turks, it would be considered normal. However, when we look at the indicators, we see an abnormality. This abnormality is thought-provoking. Migration occurs everywhere in the world. But not in such an abnormal way, and it is not as noticeable in relation to the population of those communities."
According to Mehdi Neimi, those who migrate from Iranian Azerbaijan to cities like Tehran later create conditions for the migration of other relatives.
"Take any student as an example who has been accepted by a university outside Azerbaijan. He is no longer as confident that he will find a job in his city or village. Migration sometimes happens in a network-like way. If one family member lives outside Azerbaijan, he can pull other relatives along with him. They prepare a place for themselves in the location they moved to. For them, there is no longer an attraction to live in Azerbaijan," the economist says.
Neimi points out that the number of people migrating from some regions of Iranian Azerbaijan is higher compared to other regions. According to him, in some cities, the number of people migrating to Tehran is about twice the current population of those cities.
"There has been significant migration from cities like Ardabil, Sarab, Miyane, and Sareskend (Hashtari). I am saying this based on the percentage of their populations. Migration is high from other regions as well. But for example, when the current population of Sarab is X, twice X has migrated to Tehran. We are not even counting those who have moved to other provinces," he notes.
According to Mehdi Neimi, "In some regions, people have migrated to other regions of Azerbaijan. Migration from Qaradağ, for instance, was mostly toward Tabriz and Urmia. However, migration from Ardabil, Sarab, Miyane, Sareskend, and Zanjan has generally been to areas outside Azerbaijan. There has been no migration from Tabriz and Urmia to the extent seen from Ardabil. There is migration from certain strata in those cities."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Mehdi Nəimi: Güney Azərbaycandan digər bölgələrə mühacirət anormal və düşündürücüdür