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| Mehdi Neimi |
Mehdi Neimi claims that the natural resources of South Azerbaijan are being plundered by the state. Speaking to Voice of America, the economist explains that the Iranian government establishes major industries to process raw materials and valuable minerals from South Azerbaijan in the country’s central regions.
According to Mehdi Neimi, "If we look at economic indicators, the reality behind these political slogans becomes evident. We can say that Azerbaijan's underground and surface resources are being plundered without accountability. The state may use the region’s resources, but it must do so with the intent of benefiting the local population. Plundering the region’s resources, transferring them elsewhere, and leaving its residents in hardship validate the truth of those colonialism-related slogans.”
He adds: “Mines in South Azerbaijan are exploited in this way, or only a very small portion of the resources is utilized in the region. These materials are transported raw to other areas. Particularly valuable minerals and gemstones are being looted.”
In his view, one of the reasons for transferring valuable minerals and raw materials to other regions is the government’s refusal to establish major industries in South Azerbaijan:
“One issue is that processing these raw materials locally could lead to the gathering of a large workforce in that region. This contradicts the policies of colonialist regimes. In other words, they extract the raw materials and transport them elsewhere to prevent industries requiring large numbers of workers or wealth accumulation from developing in the region. They even account for the transportation costs involved. Transporting these materials can be very costly, but they are willing to bear that expense to prevent industries from taking root in the area.”
In recent times, along with national activists, local media and some members of parliament have started voicing their objections to the economic discrimination against South Azerbaijan more openly than before.
According to Mehdi Neimi, "National activists in South Azerbaijan have long been raising awareness about economic discrimination, but no one took them seriously. Our people also didn’t heed many of the activists’ warnings. However, over time, as a result of these efforts, a discourse on this issue has emerged within our society, as if it has been formalized and given structure, shifting the discourse in South Azerbaijan. For this reason, politicians, whether they wanted to or not, had to adopt this discourse. If they hadn’t started discussing these issues, people would have begun questioning them because these matters, along with the facts behind them, have already spread widely in society.”
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Mehdi Nəimi: Dövlət İran Azərbaycanının təbii sərvətini mərkəzi bölgələrə köçürür