 |
| Father Jolani with his newborn baby. |
An artist from Ardabil, in Iranian Azerbaijan, has been denied a birth certificate for his child because the family chose a Turkish name for her.
Sajjad Jolani, a cultural activist and artist from Ardabil, shared this news in a video on his Instagram page.
In the video, Jolani stood outside the Civil Registration Office in Ardabil, explaining that despite two months of effort, his child has been deprived of the right to a name. He recounted the statements made by officials at the Civil Registration Office, who informed him that the Turkish name he wanted to give his child had been sent to a three-member committee of Persian language experts in Tehran for evaluation.
The officials stated:
“The requested name has not been approved by the committee in Tehran, and this has been verbally communicated. Until the family receives an official notification, they are advised to choose and consider a different name.”
The family chose the name Ayıl for their daughter, but Jolani believes that the Iranian government has refused to approve the name both because it is Turkish and because of its meaning.
In Iran, birth certificates are only issued for names included on a government-approved list provided to civil registration offices. This is not the first time the Civil Registration Office has opposed giving Turkish names to children. Previously, it was reported that a child named Onur from Tikantape (Tekab) in West Azerbaijan province had not received a birth certificate even after three years.
The human rights organization Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) has brought Jolani’s case to the attention of international human rights organizations, highlighting his struggle for the right to name his child. The association shared Jolani’s video, along with English subtitles and a report, with entities such as Human Rights Watch, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and other international organizations.
The report emphasized “the continued humiliation of Turks by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The right to freely name one’s child is enshrined in Article 7 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child as one of the most fundamental human rights.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ərdəbildə uşağa adı türkcə olduğu üçün şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi verilmir