Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, February 15, 2023
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| Ahmad Alirezabeigi, Former Governor General of East Azerbaijan Province |
Tabriz Member of Parliament and former Governor of East Azerbaijan Ahmad Alireza Beygi has stated that the Iranian government plans to undermine Tabriz. He mentioned that the Ministry of Interior has drawn up an "unjust and lowly" plan for the city.
Beygi made these remarks during a meeting with members of the council from the Basminj city of Tabriz. The Nasr News website, which operates in Tabriz, published a video of Beygi discussing the topic.
According to the MP, the Ministry of Interior has an unjust plan to diminish Tabriz. They aim to reduce the status of Tabriz by granting city and district status to regions around Tabriz.Beygi noted that Tabriz’s rightful position, as well as its historical and geopolitical significance, is being obstructed.
"Tabriz says, 'Because of my struggles during the Constitutional Revolution, I deserve higher representation, because I am Tabriz.' But in two years, they will tell us, ‘What Tabriz? Your population is only as large as Khorramabad.’ Why? Because the administrative divisions of this area will be changed," he said.
He emphasized that Tabriz's influence extends beyond Iran's borders, reaching the Caucasus and Turkey.
"Now I won’t be able to say that Tabriz is the most important political and demographic center of the region. I won’t be able to say that not only within the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also in the Caucasus or, for instance, in Erzurum, all these areas are within Tabriz’s sphere of influence. They will say, 'You are Tabriz, and at best, you have a population of one million.' This is a lowly plan drawn up for Tabriz, but we cannot fully comprehend what it means," Beygi declared.
Beygi has repeatedly criticized the deprivation of Tabriz from its deserved political and diplomatic status in previous years. In December 2020, he also criticized former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's response to Turkish President Erdogan's recitation of the poem "Arazı Ayırdılar" in Baku, urging that relations with Turkey should not be strained, and calling for a role for Tabriz in foreign policy.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Təbriz millət vəkili: Dövlət Təbrizi kiçiltmək istəyir və biz bunun nə demək olduğunu anlaya bilmirik