BBC - March 4, 2015
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| "Make the Turk’s Language Official" |
More than 1,800 Azerbaijani students have asked Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to fulfill his campaign promises regarding "education in the mother tongue," "recognition of the Turkish language," and "the establishment of the Academy of Turkish Language and Literature."
Before the presidential election, Hassan Rouhani stated in one of his declarations that he was committed and determined to implement the sections of the Constitution related to the rights of Iran’s ethnic groups.
Among Mr. Rouhani's promises to fulfill Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic was the "official teaching of the mother tongues of Iranians (Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, etc.) at school and university levels."
Now, these students, concerned that these campaign promises remain unfulfilled, have called for the necessary laws to be drafted to implement Articles 3, 15, and 19 of the Constitution to "eliminate existing discriminations."
According to Article 15 of Iran’s Constitution, the official language and script in Iran is Persian, but using local and ethnic languages in the press and media, as well as teaching their literature alongside Persian in schools, is permitted.
Article 19 of the Iranian Constitution states that all Iranian people, regardless of their ethnic group or tribe, enjoy equal rights, and differences in color, race, language, and similar factors shall not bestow any privileges.
The signatories of this letter have assessed the “political views of some officials and the security-based approaches” toward the issue of mother tongue education as causing “irreparable damage to the cultural and identity structure of ethnic groups” in Iran.
For this reason, they have requested Hassan Rouhani “to work in collaboration with other branches of government and relevant institutions to change the security-based view toward ethnic groups [and nations residing in Iran] and different cultures, and to transform security-based methods into a scientifically managed, effective system.”
The student signatories have also requested the establishment of the Academy of Turkish Language and Literature.
During an election campaign speech in Tabriz on June 10, 2013, Hassan Rouhani promised that his administration would establish the Academy of Turkish Language and Literature.
This letter has been published while, according to some Azerbaijani student activists, “Atabak Sepehri, an activist involved in this campaign in the city of Parsabad Moghan, was arrested by security forces for collecting signatures.”
They also told the news site OyanNews that the signatures of students from Payame Noor University in Urmia, Naqadeh, and Parsabad were “confiscated by the security office of these universities.”
According to these Azerbaijani student activists, the letter and its 1,811 signatures were sent to official news agencies, but these agencies “refused to publish it.”
The signatories also criticized “incomplete” measures, such as the creation of provincial networks on IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) and the “partial implementation” of Article 15 of the Constitution.
They argued that these measures were ineffective in resolving issues and even “sometimes created new problems.”
While the implementation of constitutional articles related to using scripts and languages in the press and mass media, including provincial radio and television networks, has not encountered issues, the other part of these principles, which refers to “teaching their literature in schools alongside Persian,” has yet to be implemented.
Students from universities in Urmia, Zanjan, Kaleybar, University of Tabriz, University of Maragheh, and the Islamic Azad University of Meshginshahr signed this letter, which was sent to the President’s Office.
Link to the original text: https://www.bbc.com/persian/world/2015/03/150304_u14_mothertongue_rouhani