Əlirza Quluncu (Alirza Quluncu) - December 11, 2018
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| Dr. Shapur Ansari |
Shapur Ansari Speaks on the Legacy of the National Government [Part Two]
“They want children to be scared, ashamed, and feel small so that they won’t speak Turkish. But during the National Government period, we read this language with pride,” says the Southern Azerbaijani scholar and surgeon in an interview with Voice of America.
In addition to Shapur Ansari, many other intellectuals who briefly received education in Turkish during the Azerbaijan National Government era hold high regard for the reforms led by Seyyed Jafar Pishavari and the Democratic Party.
Two notable figures of Persian literature, Gholam-Hossein Saedi and Reza Baraheni, who belong to the Turkish community, have repeatedly mentioned that period in their writings with pride and respect.
However, Shapur Ansari confirms that there are also many intellectuals in Iranian Azerbaijan who hold an entirely opposite view.
He believes that in Iranian Azerbaijan, many people have become accustomed to the current situation and consider it normal. Many ultimately choose to surrender.
Ansari recounts a conversation he had with another doctor he knows as an example: “He also witnessed the National Government period... Now he’s made a lot of money. He told me, ‘Let it go! So what? We didn’t study in Turkish; we studied in another language. So be it! Go make money…!’”
Ansari adds, “Alongside this, Turks are being insulted, and he says nothing. He says, ‘You turn right, you turn left; this insult exists. I can’t fight against the whole country. He says, no matter what happens, I’ll live my own life. What’s it to me?’”
“These people have, in a sense, surrendered. The majority have submitted to the current situation,” the Southern Azerbaijani scholar states.
According to him, “Unfortunately, due to the struggles in Azerbaijani history, during the eras of Sattar Khan, Khiabani, and Pishavari, they suffered so much, gave so many sacrifices that, in the end, some people surrendered. They raised their hands and said, ‘I’ll accept anything, and I’ll give my child a Persian name...’”
Shapur Ansari also says that many people in Iranian Azerbaijan have become accustomed to the current situation.
“At one point in America, Black people accepted that system. For example, on the bus, if a white person was standing, they had no right to sit. When a white person came, they had to give up their seat. They had become accustomed to it. They said, well, this is normal. It’s the same in Iran. They see the rules and get used to it, saying that’s just how things are.”