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| Sevil Suleymani |
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people opposing restrictions and bans on giving Turkish names to children and businesses in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran.
Sociologist Sevil Süleymani, in an interview with Voice of America, explains that Turkish and Arab identities are defined as "non-Iranian" in Iranian nationalism. For this reason, the government seeks to erase and eliminate symbols of these identities.
The sociologist believes that by trying to eliminate the symbols of Turkish and Arab identities, the Iranian government seeks to alienate new generations from their heritage.
"Because the Iranian state views Arab and Turkish identities as entirely non-Iranian, it imposes these bans. By replacing these names with Persian ones, over time, it essentially claims that you were never Turkish; your identity has always been Persian. For instance, they change place names, like renaming Arazbar to Arasbaran. Now, 20 or 30 years later, the younger generation no longer says Arazbar. Most have already adopted the name Arasbaran. Similarly, instead of Savalan, they say Sabalan."
Sevil Süleymani emphasizes that the policy of renaming is highly effective in the identity-construction process being pursued in Iran.
"The renaming of places perfectly serves the state's assimilation process. After 20 years, they can say, 'Look, your name itself is Persian. You have no connection to Turks. Your parents chose a Persian name for you because they embraced Persian identity.' This is part of the policy of fully internalizing Persian identity," the sociologist explains.
According to Süleymani, the resistance against this policy has turned into a significant social movement. Local populations demand the restoration and preservation of original names and insist on giving Turkish names to their children, businesses, and workplaces.
"This resistance is a major part of the broader identity movement. It includes efforts to reclaim original names and protect them, as well as the insistence on giving Turkish names to everything, from children to businesses," she notes.
Süleymani highlights the challenges faced by families trying to obtain birth certificates for their children with Turkish names. Many families, she says, give up on choosing Turkish names for their children to avoid these difficulties.
"Of course, many families don’t have the energy to fight against these state-imposed restrictions. Sometimes there isn’t even an explicit ban, but the process becomes so burdensome that families give up. They have to go from one office to another, meet one official after another, just to get a birth certificate. Because of these exhausting procedures, many families naturally give up. That’s exactly what the state wants—to force them to give up. Some even decide not to apply for a birth certificate at all because they know choosing a Turkish name would subject them to these hurdles."
Süleymani believes that families resisting these bans fully understand the government's intentions.
"Those who resist know exactly why the state is doing this. They know the government wants to strip their children of their identity. They understand that the starting point of losing their identity is their name. If, as a Turk, you cannot choose a Turkish name today, you are already accepting assimilation. To reject this, they begin to resist and do everything in their power."
Reports of protests against renamed places and struggles to obtain birth certificates for children primarily come from Iranian Azerbaijan and other regions with large Turkish populations.
Sevil Süleymani states that the significance of the language issue among Turks is tied to the role of Turkish in their identity.
"The importance of the language issue among Turks stems from the central role of Turkish in their identity. In my opinion, Turkish is the key to Turkish identity. Their primary identity rests on language. Assimilation begins when you lose your name and language. Once you lose your language, you no longer exist. There is a large segment in Iran where people say, 'My mother is Turkish, my father is Turkish,' but the child completely sees themselves as Persian. In Iran, when a Turk abandons their language and name, they are accepted into the Persian community. They see themselves as Persian and continue their life that way, entirely disconnected from Turks. This is somewhat different for other ethnic groups. For instance, the Baloch people's Sunni faith protects them from assimilation. However, among Turks, because the number of non-Shias is small and they view themselves as part of Iranian identity, when they lose their language, they completely dissolve into Iranian identity. As a result, there is stronger resistance to language among Turks, but also greater pressure from the government," she concludes.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Sevil Süleymani: Hakimiyyət türk kimliyini qeyri-irani gördüyü üçün türk adlarını silmək istəyir