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| Samad Pourmusavi |
The approval of the candidacy of Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist member of parliament from Tabriz, by the Guardian Council for Iran’s upcoming early presidential elections has led to an increase in political activism in Iranian Azerbaijan and the Turkish community in Tehran.
Speaking to Voice of America, political activist and researcher Samad Pourmusavi believes that in the upcoming presidential elections, “the Turks going to the ballot box will not vote for the Islamic Republic regime or even for Pezeshkian himself, but for Azerbaijan and their own desires.”
“Pezeshkian is a multifaceted individual. If I were to mention his negative side, he is someone loyal to the Velayat-e Faqih (supreme religious leader) system, the ruling regime, which means he is in a very strong position. His positive side, however, is that he believes in the injustices within the regime. He also frequently emphasizes that the injustice towards Turks and marginalized peoples is more severe. He has personally suffered from ethnic discrimination in his life. He has extensive political experience,” said Samad Pourmusavi.
The political activist believes that considering Pezeshkian’s past actions and statements, it is not difficult to understand the current political mobilization in Iranian Azerbaijan.
“Even though Pezeshkian is loyal to the regime, he has an attachment to Azerbaijan. He has an attachment to being Turkish. For example, one of the most important things he did was create the Turkish faction in the parliament. That faction was formed in a way that it seemed as if they had drawn up the map of how Turks were distributed across Iran. If someone were to study that faction, they would discover how the Turks have been scattered across Iranian territory, a fact that was denied for centuries. Despite the fact that Turkism has been erased from universities, scientific centers, and official political circles for nearly a century, through Pezeshkian and a few other Turkish representatives, it has suddenly been revived in the parliament, an official state body. Understanding the current movement in Azerbaijan is not difficult when you consider all of this.”
Pourmusavi emphasizes that in the upcoming elections, the Turks in Iranian Azerbaijan or Tehran who go to vote will not vote for the Islamic Republic or even for Pezeshkian, but will vote for their own desires and for Azerbaijan.
“The Turks are not voting because they believe in the regime or the fairness of the election process. In reality, they want to vote for their own desires. This time, they are not even voting for Pezeshkian, despite the characteristics I mentioned. They want to vote for Azerbaijan. Turks are voting not because of the future of this regime or for other reasons, but because Pezeshkian is Turkish and because of the revival of their issues. We all know that no one will be able to make a significant change within this system. But now that a Turkish candidate with these characteristics is running, this activity shows that the nation wants to say ‘no’ to those who have been denying Turks for a century. Many people say, ‘I won’t vote myself, but I will call on those who are voting to vote for Pezeshkian because he understands our issues.’ This paradox should be understood in the context of the magnitude of these problems,” the political activist stated.
According to Samad Pourmusavi, the increasing political activity in Iranian Azerbaijan also prevents the society from undergoing political decay.
“Political activity in Azerbaijan has been suppressed by the central government. For a long time, they have been working to drain the political weight in Azerbaijan. But it can revive. The political space in Azerbaijan can come to life again. When there is no movement in society, the society decays from within. I believe that the benefits of this activity outweigh the harms,” Pourmusavi added.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Səməd Purmusəvi: Sandığa gedən türklər İran hakimiyyətinə deyil, öz arzularına və Azərbaycana səs verəcəklər