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| Ural Hatemi |
A recent video circulating on social media, showing an individual presumed to be a speech therapist teaching a child to pronounce the letter "Q" in the standard Persian accent prevalent in Iran, has sparked widespread reactions in Iranian Azerbaijan.
In an interview with Voice of America, sociologist Ural Hatemi emphasized that these images illustrate the extent of assimilation policies in Iran.
In Iranian cinema and television comedies, actors portraying Turkish characters often exaggerate pronunciation differences by mimicking dialects, particularly overemphasizing sounds such as Q, K, G, Ch, and J. Recently, a young Turkish Instagram influencer known as Amirpiva was mocked by many users for pronouncing the letter "Q" differently from the Tehran accent in his Persian-language videos.
Cultural activists and social media users in Iranian Azerbaijan have responded to the issue of pronunciation differences that has become a hot topic in recent weeks. Some activists view these events as examples of Iran's policies of "Persianization," "discrimination," and "assimilation."
Hassan Rashidi, a Turkish language teacher and writer based in Tehran, wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, "Instead of teaching Turkish students knowledge, they force them to pronounce the letter 'Q' in a Persian accent."
"There used to be a simple belief: Speak Persian with your child so they can succeed, find a job, and so on. But now, it’s not just about speaking Persian. We’re seeing the forced teaching of the so-called superior Tehran accent. Otherwise, we all already speak Persian with an accent," Hatemi remarked.
Hatemi highlighted that language is a cultural asset, adding: "A cultural asset is manipulated by states to assimilate and homogenize society. In this situation, families submit to these practices, believing it will strengthen their children's cultural and social assets."
The sociologist explained that Turkish has not been afforded opportunities to develop as a cultural asset in Iran over the past century.
"There has never been a chance for Turkish to develop as a cultural asset in Iran. Central governments over the past century have not allowed this. They have not permitted someone who speaks Turkish well to use it as a cultural asset to improve their life. Therefore, we should not overly blame families. A large portion of families and the public in today’s Iran are struggling to meet their most basic needs. The transformation of Turkish into an economic asset as a cultural and social asset has been obstructed in Iran, leaving families with one option: relying solely on Persian to advance themselves," Ural Hatemi concluded.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ural Hatəmi: İran hökümətləri son yüzildə türkcənin mədəni və sosial sərmayə olaraq inkişafına icazə verməyiblər