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| Lale Javanshir |
In an interview with Voice of America, linguist and University of Toronto professor Lale Javanshir evaluated the current state of the Turkish language and literature in Iranian Azerbaijan. Javanshir emphasizes the critical situation of the Turkish language in Iran.
She mentions that in Iranian Azerbaijan, the function of the Turkish language is now limited to expressing emotions.
“We always say that language is the foundation of our identity. Language is the home of our existence. Do we realize what that means? Language is not just a language. It is not merely a means of communication. Our entire identity and existence are tied to Turkish. If our language disappears, our struggles, whether for freedom or justice, will no longer differ significantly from the central struggle. It is our language that defines us. This struggle must be waged through our language. If we do not think in this language, if we cannot express our problems in this language, if we cannot discuss our economy, politics, literature, environmental issues, and migration, then the existence of this language no longer holds meaning.”
Javanshir points out that Turkish activists, intellectuals, and writers in Iranian Azerbaijan do not discuss their region’s issues in Turkish.
“Why is Turkish in a critical state? Apart from the state's policies, how have we contributed to this? We have turned our language into a language of emotions. We get angry in this language, we love in this language, we sing bayati in this language, we curse in this language, we share words of affection in this language. But we no longer think in this language. We express all our serious issues in another language, in Persian. I had the opportunity to listen to people on a social platform called Clubhouse. There, people gather. For instance, they sit and tell each other their memories in Turkish. But when we want to discuss a serious issue, we do so in Persian.”
The linguist stresses that the responsibility for the critical situation of the language in Iranian Azerbaijan lies not with the population but with the intellectuals and writers.
According to her, “If the problems of the modern world are not being written in our language, this is the intellectual’s problem. If the intellectual cannot write them, they should translate them. This means we are not doing it. It means we, the intellectuals, are not doing our job. We cannot expect this from the people. I think the duty of the people in South Azerbaijan ends when they speak Turkish to their children. They raise their children in their native language, and their duty is over. After that, the duty of activists, intellectuals, and writers begins. It means we, as writers, are not doing our job.”
Javanshir highlights the importance of creating Turkish content on various topics, including academic fields.
“With the advent of new technology, new words and concepts are emerging. This is where the intellectual's and writer's work begins. They need to sit down and think. They should translate, not invent new words. In our case, people should not invent words. In South Azerbaijan, everyone says that there should be a Turkish language institution to create new words. This is unnecessary. For new concepts, we have a great resource: Turkey. We should borrow new concepts in fields like feminist theory, technology, and medicine from Turkey, not invent words. We should use words that exist there but not here,” the linguist notes.
Javanshir states that instead of focusing on the “alphabet debate” and creating new words, priority should be given to learning Turkish and strengthening basic language skills.
“We have an alphabet debate. I think we should put these aside. For example, let’s write in Latin or Arabic. If we live abroad, we can spend some time learning both. But which magazine in Iran is authorized to be published in Latin script? Which book can be published in Latin? We should not force this. We need to stop creating new words. Everyone is creating new words. Actually, we should focus on our grammar and syntax. We need to try to become literate in the Turkish language. How? By improving our reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. If we are not writing, we are not literate in our language. ‘It’s my mother tongue, I know it’ is not enough. If we want our language to survive, we all need to work together to get this language out of the situation it is in,” adds the professor of Near Eastern cultures at the University of Toronto.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Lalə Cavanşir: İranda türkcə sadəcə duyğu ifadəsi dili halına gəlir, artıq bu dildə düşünmürük