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| Ural Hatemi |
Since September 29, in addition to the protests held in Iranian Azerbaijan and other Turkish-speaking regions, thousands of artists, lawyers, students, writers, and public figures have signed statements supporting Karabakh.
According to him, “Today, if there is a unity and solidarity around a single word, the word Karabakh, in Turkey, North Azerbaijan, and South Azerbaijan, it is natural that the regime will feel great fear from this.”
Hatemi adds, “Even if they do not express this fear, we can guess how deeply the regime’s inner circle is thinking about these matters behind closed doors in their meeting rooms.”
Ural Hatemi draws attention to the reasons why both pro-government groups and opposition forces take positions against Azerbaijan on the Karabakh issue:
“Just as the Karabakh issue influenced the awakening of the Turkish population in South Azerbaijan in the 1990s, it is still having an impact today. In just the last 10-12 days, we have seen many groups, which we considered passive or silent about the Azerbaijan and Turkish issues, or thought had no opinions on the matter, issuing statements about Karabakh.”
In his view, the issue of identity and the rise of national consciousness in Iranian Azerbaijan has become a common concern for both pro-government groups and the opposition:
“The common point for all these different political groups within the regime, from reformists to nationalists, from the Revolutionary Guard (Sepah) to groups linked to the Ayatollahs in Qom, and from foreign monarchists to all other groups, is this.”
The researcher emphasizes that many of Iran’s political groups, analysts, and leading figures in Persian-language media are unaware of the political and social situation in South Azerbaijan:
“Most of them are unaware of the views of the society in South Azerbaijan. From the most-watched Persian-language media and TV stations to small websites, analysts, and commentators. For example, someone might say, ‘I’ve been to Ardabil twice. This happened in Ardabil.’ Or ‘I’ve been to Tabriz four times,’ and then they comment on the political, social, and psychological mood of Tabriz’s population and important issues, clearly showing they have no idea.”
Focusing on Iran's socio-political situation, the sociologist points out that inaccurate and non-objective analyses sometimes have an effect on society:
“Researchers abroad can distinguish this. They can see that there is a gap in these analyses, a lack of evidence, and a bias. However, in Iran, because there are only a limited number of media outlets and due to the restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic on the media, these kinds of analyses sometimes influence the public. But when issues like Karabakh emerge, the lies of these media outlets become evident. When their lies come out, of course, this time the winners are not them, but Azerbaijan.”
Ural Hatemi adds, “Their goal is to break the solidarity between South and North Azerbaijan and, on a larger scale, to disrupt the solidarity between Turkey, Azerbaijan, South Azerbaijan, and Iranian Turks. Their main goal is to break the will of these people. In my opinion, they have not been successful in breaking that will.”
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ural Hatəmi: Qarabağ məsələsinin yaratdığı həmrəylik hissi İran hakimiyyətini qorxudur