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| Sadiq İsabəyli |
Recently, factions close to the Iranian regime, as well as some opposition groups, have been calling for harsh measures against Turkish activists and Tractor fans. Political analyst Sadiq Isabeyli, in an interview with Voice of America, states that groups representing the Iranian state have "openly shifted to threatening Turks and Azerbaijan, and there are reasons for this."
He believes the propaganda that “the government in Iran is controlled by Turks” has also lost its credibility.
"The role of Azerbaijan and Turks, in general, in Iran's socio-political history is well known to everyone. Historically, Turks have been in power during various periods. However, the propaganda suggesting that Turks still retain significant influence in Iran's political and administrative systems has lost its essence. It has become as clear as daylight that this is not the case," the political activist explains.
Sadiq Isabeyli notes that "when examining the structure of the modern state system, whether in the ministries, executive, legislative, or judicial branches, or even in the armed forces, the influence of Turks has been completely altered. Turks have been increasingly removed from these state institutions."
According to the political commentator, the recurring mass protests in Iranian Azerbaijan demonstrate that Turks no longer believe in the propaganda that they hold power in Iran's government.
"From the Pahlavi era to the Islamic Republic, Iranian authorities have pursued various policies against non-Persian nations. Among these were the denial of their national identities. When that didn’t work, they moved on to denial combined with insult. Later, they shifted to distortion. This continued, but none of these approaches produced results," Isabeyli remarks.
He also highlights the "unfulfilled promises" made by Islamic Republic officials in recent years:
"When these policies failed, they decided they had to deal with these groups. How should they deal with them? Perhaps by offering conciliatory promises. We’ve seen examples of this promise-making policy, especially during election periods, over the past few years."
The political activist adds, "The social dynamics of the mass movement known as the National Liberation Movement of Azerbaijan are growing stronger, becoming more agile, and deepening further. Alongside this, their demands are also becoming clearer... In such a situation, unfulfilled promises no longer work."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Sadiq İsabəyli: İranda ‘hökümət türklərin əlindədir’ propaqandası artıq cavab vermir