This year, 625 books in Turkish have been published in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, according to the head of the province's Ministry of Culture and Guidance.
Citing the semi-official ILNA agency, Seyyed Qasim Nazimi reported during a meeting with press representatives in Tabriz that "625 of the books published in the province over the past 11 months (in the year 1400 in the Hijri calendar) are in Turkish." According to him, this constitutes approximately 15 percent of all the books published in the province.
The head editor of the Ministry of Culture and Guidance emphasized that 15 percent is a significant figure. However, the same institution reported in 2019 that 20 percent of books published in the province at that time were in Turkish.
Individuals and organizations engaged in Turkish-language publishing, distribution, and book sales in Iran frequently face pressure and restrictions. In recent years, several cultural activists who printed Turkish calendars were arrested and prosecuted.
Link to the original news in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
“Şərqi Azərbaycan vilayətində çap edilən kitabların 15 faizi türkcədir”