By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, January 24, 2022
The Chobani family from Tabriz has finally obtained a birth certificate for their son, who they named Atakan, after nearly four years of struggle. The child’s father, Adil Chobani, had been sharing updates about their efforts on social media since last year.
According to Adil Chobani’s Instagram post, he received the birth certificate from Iran’s civil registry office on January 20. However, instead of Atakan, the certificate lists the name as Atakhan.
Adil Chobani had previously shared his frustrations on Instagram, writing:
“The Prophet has said that one of a parent’s duties is to choose a good and beautiful name for their child. Thanks to the authorities in this country, that right has been taken away from us. My son Atakan is nearly 4 years old, but the registry office has refused to issue him a birth certificate because his name is Turkish.”
In Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran, many families have spent months or even years trying to secure birth certificates for their children with Turkish names, using social media to voice their concerns.
Farhad Javadi, the author of The Dictionary of Turkish Human Names, published in Iran in 2001, spoke to Voice of America about the situation, noting that the restrictions were even more severe in the 1990s.
“For those wanting to give a Turkish name to their child, shop, or company, I say there isn’t a written law preventing it. But officials are instructed to ensure Turkish names are not registered. They create conditions that force people to repeatedly visit offices, wearing them down until they give up and accept any name,” Javadi explained in the interview.
Link to the original news in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Təbrizli ailə 4 il sonra uşağına türk adı ilə şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi ala bilib