Dilshad Aliyarli, Voice of America, February 20, 2021
February 21 marks International Mother Language Day. As in previous years, various cultural events are held in cities across Iranian Azerbaijan to commemorate the day, including distributing books to children. On this occasion, national and cultural activists also voice their demands for ensuring the right to education in their mother tongue for Azerbaijanis in Iran.In an interview with Voice of America, Javad Abbasi, a national activist living in the United States, stated that the Iranian authorities have so far shown no political will to guarantee Azerbaijanis the right to education in their native language. He emphasized that national activists continue their efforts to secure this right. According to Abbasi, developments such as the establishment of a department for Azerbaijani Turkish at Tabriz University have been made possible through the efforts of these activists.
“There is demand among our people, among the youth and children, and our nation, our activists, have practically begun the education of our language informally,” Abbasi said.
He also noted the increasing pressure on national and cultural activists participating in International Mother Language Day events in recent years, mentioning that some detained activists remain imprisoned.
“Our friends and people want to gather in their homes—five, ten people with their families—to celebrate this day. The regime attacks even these gatherings, arrests them, and sentences them to imprisonment. Many years ago, they arrested many of our friends, including Akbar Azad, Alireza Farshi, Hamid Manafi, and others in Tehran. Now some of these friends have been sentenced to two years in prison and two years in exile.”
Drawing from his experience as a schoolteacher, Abbasi discussed the challenges faced by both students and teachers due to the lack of mother tongue instruction.
“A child experiences life in their mother tongue, but then they are suddenly placed in a completely different world. These children suffer from severe identity and psychological problems. They cannot realize their potential, and their love for school dies. We have seen many times that children from our regions cannot pursue higher education at advanced levels. One of the main reasons is that from early childhood, from primary school, they are unable to showcase their abilities or express themselves. They cannot even formulate a question. On the other hand, the system applies pressure. The ministry sends letters stating that Farsi must be enforced 100%, that Farsi must dominate.”
As the Biden administration takes office in the United States and potential shifts in Iran-related policies are anticipated, experts suggest that the U.S. may increase its focus on human rights issues in Iran. In a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Britain, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern over ongoing human rights violations in Iran. The statement, which also reiterated the U.S.’ willingness to return to negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal, called on the Iranian government to immediately release arbitrarily detained citizens and allow them to reunite with their families.
UNESCO declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day in 1999, following a proposal by the ambassador of Bangladesh, to raise awareness about linguistic and cultural diversity.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Cavad Abbasi: Milli fəallar dilimizin qeyri-rəsmi olaraq təhsilini başladıblar