.jpg) |
| Mehdiyya Ahani (left) and Ruqayya Kabiri (right) |
Ruqayya Kabiri and Mehdiyya Ahani, writers active in Iranian Azerbaijan, have voiced their protest against the ongoing repression and censorship policies in Iran, in connection with the widespread demonstrations taking place in recent weeks.
Kabiri and Ahani made separate statements on social media, announcing that they would no longer engage in publishing or printing activities under the supervision of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Ruqayya Kabiri, the author of several novels and short story collections in Turkish, condemned the violence against students protesting at Tabriz University in a statement shared on her Instagram account.
Kabiri expressed her objection to the violence faced by "the students of Tabriz University and the children of the nation," as well as the censorship of news related to these events. As a sign of protest, she stated that she would no longer permit any of her works to be published with the approval or oversight of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Mehdiyya Ahani, the owner and chief editor of Ban, a bilingual Turkish-Persian magazine published in Tabriz, shared a video on her Instagram account showing her burning the publication's license.
"I, Mehdiyya Ahani, the owner of Ban magazine, tried to address women’s rights in our magazine. I tried to emphasize the rights of women driven out of the streets and those of sexual minorities. But today, our cities and streets are no longer the same. Today, our streets have been taken over by my braver sisters," Ahani said in the video.
She continued, drawing courage from other women and acknowledging her fears: "Like everyone else, I am afraid. I have my fears. [But] I want to confront my fears. I look at the publication license I received and feel disgusted. They forcibly veiled me (pointing to the photo on the document). From this to the ideological text of the license, to the fabricated name 'Azari.' It’s a text that denies and distorts my Turkish identity. The only thing I can do right now is to burn this license."
At the end of the video, writer and feminist activist Mehdiyya Ahani burns the official publication license she had obtained for Ban magazine.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İran Azərbaycanında qadın yazarlar repressiya və senzura siyasətinə etiraz edir