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In Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran, families who have been unable to obtain birth certificates for their children with Turkish names for months or even years are voicing their frustrations on social media.
Recently, families in West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, and Ardabil provinces have reported that their requests to civil registry offices for birth certificates with Turkish names have been denied.
Adil Chobani, a resident of Tabriz, wrote on his Instagram page that his son Atakan, born approximately four years ago, has yet to receive a birth certificate.
“The Prophet said that one of a child’s rights over their parents is to be given a good and beautiful name. Thanks to the country's authorities, this right has been taken from us. My son Atakan is nearly four years old, but because his name is Turkish, the civil registry office refuses to issue him a birth certificate,” Chobani shared on social media.
Babak Qabilnejad, a resident of Sayin Qala (Shahin Dej) in West Azerbaijan province, also posted on Instagram that his daughter, Yagish, born about a month ago, has not been issued a birth certificate. Qabilnejad shared images of letters he had sent to various Iranian government institutions regarding the issue.
He posted a document from the West Azerbaijan civil registry office rejecting the name Yagish and wrote, “I will not give up, and this disgrace will remain on the forehead of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government.”
Following the social media outcry, the head of the East Azerbaijan civil registry office, Ahad Jodi, claimed in an interview with Iranian news agencies that there are no restrictions on Turkish names. In response to Jodi’s remarks, Yagish’s father wrote another letter to the East Azerbaijan civil registry office.
In a letter shared on his Instagram account, Qabilnejad wrote:
“Mr. Ahad Jodi, thank you for your statements claiming there are no restrictions or bans on Turkish names. I have chosen the name Yagish for my daughter, who was born on January 3. Yet, I still have not been able to obtain a birth certificate for her. Considering that the name Yagish is not outside the bounds of law, religion, culture, or tradition, I kindly request that you order the issuance of a birth certificate for my daughter. If this issue is not within your authority and your statements are false, please say so openly and stop giving us false hope. But know that your office’s obstruction of our right to choose a good name for our children will not change our decision. Because while my child can live without a birth certificate, they cannot live without an identity.”
Recently, the father of a child named Anar, Hassan Amirpur Chakhirli, and the father of a child named Sevgi, Mehdi Qiyasi, have also taken to social media to report that they were unable to obtain birth certificates for their children with Turkish names.
The case of Ayil, the daughter of well-known artist and Turkish activist Sajjad Jolani from Ardabil, who was born seven months ago, has been a topic of media discussion for months.
In a recent interview with Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Jolani stated:
“At the registry office, they told me the name Ayil is not on their list, and I must choose a name from the approved list. When I asked what I could do, they said three Persian literature experts in Tehran make such decisions. They blocked the approval of the name Ayil. In Iran, without a birth certificate, a child cannot access any social services. Our daughter has a health condition and has undergone three surgeries. Because she lacks a birth certificate, we have not been able to use insurance to cover the costs.”
Many families in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran face challenges obtaining birth certificates for their children with Turkish names. Farhad Javadi, the author of Turkish Human Names, published in Iran in 2001, previously told Voice of America that the situation was even worse in the 1990s.
“For those who want to give Turkish names to their children, stores, or companies, there’s no explicit law prohibiting these names. But [state institutions] are instructed to find ways to prevent Turkish names from being used. They create a situation where people go back and forth for days, eventually becoming exhausted and giving up. They say, ‘Just pick any name,’” Javadi said in the interview.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İranda uşaqlarına türk adı ilə şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi ala bilməyən ailələr etirazlarını sosial mediada paylaşır