In Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran, some families are forced to struggle for months or even years to obtain an identity card for their children with the Turkish name they have chosen.
In the city of Germi in Ardabil province, the Qasemi family’s struggle to get an identity card for their son, Elcan, born on July 1, lasted for 99 days.
The Civil Registration Office of Germi City had initially refused to issue an identity card for Elcan. However, after the Qasemi family appealed to the court, they were able to successfully register the name.
Elcan's father, Mohsen Qasemi, shared a copy of the newly issued identity card and the court decision on social media.
Farhad Javadi, the author of the "Turkish Human Names" dictionary published in Iran in 2001, had previously mentioned in an interview with Voice of America that the situation was even worse in the 1990s.
"I tell those who want to give a Turkish name to their child, shop, or company that there is no law prohibiting names. However, they (government bodies) are instructed to make sure a Turkish name is not chosen. They create such conditions that a person goes back and forth for days, gets tired, and then gives up. They say, 'Whatever name it is, it doesn't matter,'" Javadi stated in the interview.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ərdəbil vilayətində Elcan adlı uşağa 99 gün sonra şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi verilib