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| Human rights advocate Shahin Helali Khyavi |
In recent times, Iran's judiciary and security institutions have intensified pressures against Turkish activists and publishers, particularly those operating in Tehran Province.
Human rights advocate Shahin Helali Khyavi, in an interview with Voice of America, stated that as long as Iran maintains its "security perspective" toward the Turkish language, the policy of "suppression, imprisonment, and torture" will persist.
Additionally, language rights activists Alireza Farshi, Akbar Azad, Behnam Sheikh, and Hamid Manafi were sentenced to two years in prison and two years of exile in Tehran. Alireza Farshi and human rights activist Akbar Naeimi were also taken into custody.
According to Shahin Helali, “There are arrests in cities across Iran where protests are taking place. Among those arrested, there may be Turkish activists, or there may be individuals who are Turkish but not involved in national activism. However, apart from this, there is always a distinct level of suppression targeting Turks. Regardless of the form of protests in Iran, the government’s stance toward Turks remains unchanged.”
Highlighting the resurgence of protests against the Iranian government in Tehran, he notes, “In such situations, especially the cases of activists previously arrested and tried, their files are reactivated. Moreover, Iranian authorities preemptively detain activists who are potentially effective in protest movements, aiming to prevent more significant demonstrations in these regions.”
Khyavi emphasizes the pressures faced by language rights advocates and publishers, asserting that as long as the Iranian government and other political groups uphold a "security perspective" toward the Turkish language and identity, these pressures will continue.
“When we look at these suppressions and arrests, the common denominator among them is the Turkish language... The system established after Reza Shah’s rise to power targeted this language. A different version of that system persists in Iran today. In essence, the root issue is the security perspective on the Turkish language. As long as this perspective exists, suppression, imprisonment, and torture will persist,” the human rights advocate explains.
“Tehran has a large Turkish population and has been one of the strongholds of the national movement since the 1990s. Over the years, we have witnessed the student movement and the events organized by students in Tehran. The recently closed Andishe-ye Nov bookstore has served as a hub of intellectual activity for Turkish activists in Tehran since those years,” Shahin Khyavi adds.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Şahin Xiyavlı: Basqıların əsas səbəbi İran hakimiyyətinin türk dilinə baxışıdır