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| Behzad Jiddi |
Conservative politicians in Iran and politicians from the moderate and reformist factions blame each other for the failure of the Lake Urmia Revival Center's activities.
In an interview with Voice of America, researcher Behzad Jiddi states that activists in Iranian Azerbaijan should investigate the promises made by officials and the projects announced regarding Lake Urmia to determine whether they are true or false.
The researcher emphasizes that the revival of Lake Urmia is possible with proper water management:
"Today, the condition of Lake Urmia is worse than it was when the protests started in 2010. It seems that the projects implemented so far have had no impact. In my opinion, the government lacks the will to solve this issue. If the government had the will, large-scale projects on water management in the Lake Urmia basin could be implemented, and the lake could be revived. Reviving Lake Urmia depends on the government showing this will. This will must be implemented through water management across four provinces. This management should be handled at the state level, not by the provinces."
He believes that citizens and activists have the responsibility to keep the issue on the agenda and investigate the accuracy of the projects.
"Our task is to keep this issue on the agenda and strengthen the spirit of protest. Why? Because the Iranian government has shown in the past that it might take action when there are protests. These protests must grow stronger," adds Jiddi.
Behzad Jiddi highlights that many of the promises made and projects announced are propaganda, stating, "They make promises and say words. We need to expose whether these are true or false. For example, in Azerbaijan, our officials and representatives usually don't talk about Lake Urmia, but when the people take to the streets, their propaganda machine starts working. They want to weaken the spirit of protest. That's why, for example, they talk about purification plants (water treatment plants). We need to go and investigate closely to find out whether this is true or false. We need to make films about it and bring the issue to social media. We must closely monitor and inform the public whether the promises are true or false."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Behzad Ciddi: İran dövlətinin Urmiyə gölü ilə bağlı açıqladığı layihələrin doğruluğu araşdırılmalıdır