Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, June 09, 2023
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| The Identity Card of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
The general court of Tabriz has upheld the appeal of the Nagizadeh family, who were unable to obtain an ID card for their daughter named "Elin." The court's ruling stated that the Turkish name "Elin" is appropriate for a girl and that there is no rational or logical reason to prohibit it.
The Nagizadeh family had applied to the Tabriz Registration Office and the East Azerbaijan Provincial Registration Directorate to obtain an ID card for their daughter, who was born on March 14. However, after the registration authority refused to issue an ID card with the Turkish name chosen for the child, the father, Mirmecid Nagizadeh, appealed to the general court of Tabriz.
According to the decision issued by the 11th chamber of the Tabriz general court, a judge ruled that an ID card should be issued for the name "Elin" and that the court costs should be covered by the Tabriz Registration Office.
The ruling also stated, "The authority to determine the prohibition of names lies with the superior council of the Registration Office. However, this does not mean that the names chosen by families for their children are limited to those on the Registration Office's list. The Turkish name 'Elin' chosen by the family is appropriate for a girl. There is no rational or logical basis for prohibiting this name."
In Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran, families who have been unable to obtain ID cards for their children with the Turkish names they selected for months or even years have been trying to make their voices heard through social media. Earlier, it was shared on social media that Iranian officials had refused to issue ID cards for names such as Alp Orhan, Sevgi, Yağış, Oğuz Kaan, Onur, Alparslan, Atakan, Ayıl, Anar, Türkay, Tarkan, and Volkan. Some of these names were later registered after families' repeated applications to registration authorities or the courts.
In recent years, the number of families in various provinces of Iran with Turkish populations choosing Turkish names for their children has increased. These families tend to prefer names that are especially popular in Turkey. Civil registration authorities in different cities often cite that the names chosen by families are not of Iranian or Islamic origin, are foreign, or are not on the list, and thus refuse to issue ID cards.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Təbriz məhkəməsi övladına Elin adı ilə şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi ala bilməyən ailənin şikayətini təmin edib