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| Mehsa Mehdili |
Political analyst and national activist Mehsa Mehdili states in an interview with Voice of America that the situation created by the protests that began in Iran in September 2022 has "added new values and new slogans to the Azerbaijan National Movement, but the core principles of the movement have not changed."
After the widespread anti-government protests in Iran in September 2022, significant changes and even transformations in the activities and relationships of political currents within the Iranian opposition have been observed.
However, Mehsa Mehdili believes that while the Azerbaijan National Movement has adopted some new slogans, it continues to follow its main political line without changing its principles.
"The protests that started in September 2022 are very important, especially because they exposed the fact that women are considered second-class citizens in Iran. But when it comes to how much this has affected the South Azerbaijan movement, in my view, our main line has not changed. Our principles are already clear. It is a movement based on human rights and concerned with the rights of Turks living in South Azerbaijan and abroad... In this sense, I do not see any change in our main line," says Mehdili.
However, she also adds that new values and slogans have emerged in the national movement after the protests.
"After the protests, we saw new things in the national movement, new values, and new slogans in response to the needs of the agenda. Especially slogans related to women and the system we envision for the future. This has added value to our core values and principles in a positive sense. In a way, it has shown us that we could come together with other ethnicities in Iran against the regime on some common goals and slogans, and that we could unite on some common points. This was adopted in the national movement."
Mehsa Mehdili also expressed her thoughts on a recent statement regarding the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) that caused disagreements among forces within the national movement.
"All organizations based outside that are affiliated with South Azerbaijan do not have clear information about how many bases they have inside or whether they have any. On this matter, there is no evidence to support claims about whether they have bases or not. These organizations have set their own principles and claim to belong to the South Azerbaijan National Movement. But sometimes we see that their actions do not align with those principles and ethical standards," the political analyst highlights.
Mehsa Mehdili emphasizes that decisions made in the name of the national movement on serious and dangerous matters should not be taken lightly.
"Forming small groups abroad and giving them big names, without knowing where the legitimacy comes from, and then taking dangerous steps on very delicate issues in the name of the national movement, is something that, in my opinion, will eventually push us aside," she concludes.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Məhsa Mehdili: Milli Hərəkat adına atılan addımlar ciddi düşünülməlidir