Daniyal Babayani - Radio Zamaneh - September 9, 2020
On August 24, 2020, a brief news report appeared on social media and in some local news agencies in Golestan Province: "The license for Sahra Newspaper has been revoked."
Despite inquiries by journalists and media activists in Golestan, no clear answer has yet been provided regarding the reason for the revocation of Sahra Newspaper’s license, nor is it clear why this action was taken by the second administration of Prudence and Hope.
Sahra Newspaper was the first official media outlet of the Turkmen people of Iran. It began its activities in March 1998 with the slogan "We Come with Spring." Following Sahra Newspaper’s registration, a path opened for the Turkmen, leading to the formal registration of several other bilingual Persian-Turkmen publications over the years. Among these are the quarterly Yapraq, licensed to and managed by Yousef Ghojaq; Makhtumqoli, under the license and management of Mohammad Sarli; Turkmen Nama, licensed to and managed by Abdulqahar Sofi Rad; and the weekly Asr Golestan, under the license and management of Ghayoom Agh Atabay.
With the spread of technology and people’s access to the internet, online media outlets such as the Turkmen Students website and Olkamiz website also joined the ranks of Turkmen media.
However, the revocation of the long-established Sahra, one of the pioneers in promoting freedom of expression in Turkmen Sahra, led to widespread outcry on social media and among the media community in the region.
Many local journalists criticized the revocation of this bilingual publication’s license, calling it a violation of Article 24 of the Constitution.
Article 24 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution concerns press freedom and states:
"Publications and the press have the freedom to express themselves unless they are detrimental to the foundations of Islam or public rights. The details will be determined by law."
Additionally, Article 175 of the Constitution stipulates that safeguarding the freedom of dissemination and expression, in accordance with Islamic criteria, is essential for mass media (radio and television).
Aside from viewing the revocation of Sahra’s license as an act against freedom of speech and the press, this publication played an important role in training a new generation of journalists from Turkmen Sahra. With its closure, many lost opportunities for work and professional growth.
Aman Mohammad Khojmehli, a well-known journalist from Golestan Province, is one of those who began his media career at Sahra Newspaper. Based in the city of Gonbad-e Kavus, Khojmehli was recently fined four million tomans for "spreading falsehoods" and "disturbing public opinion," a sentence later reduced to 1.6 million tomans in the appeals court. Khojmehli faced charges due to his writings on the economic crisis and was taken to court following complaints from security agencies. He was arrested in February 2020 and released on bail.
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| Aman Mohammad Khojmehli |
Speaking to Zamaneh about the significance of Sahra Newspaper, Khojmehli said:
"Back then, we Turkmen didn’t have a newspaper, and this was a major deficiency for us. The preservation, continuation, and survival of an ethnic group definitely requires printed media like newspapers, weeklies, monthlies, and magazines. Initially, Sahra was a monthly publication, later becoming a weekly or bi-weekly."
Regarding government pressure on the press, he added:
"Pressure on the press has intensified in recent years, particularly since the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Though the 'spring of the press' turned to autumn during the first administration of Khatami in 2000, when newspapers were closed en masse."
Sahra Newspaper and Its Critical Approach
The second issue of Sahra Newspaper was published in May 1998 with the main headline: "Will the Turkmen Have Roles in Key Positions in Golestan Province?"
This important critique resonated widely throughout the region, as no publication had previously defended the rights of Iran's Turkmen with such clarity. The Turkmen people, marginalized from many civil rights due to their religious and ethnic affiliations, were frequently excluded from provincial and local management positions under various pretexts. Both provincial and national officials were intolerant of even the smallest efforts by the Turkmen to assert their rights, identity, or objections, as if these people had grown accustomed to having their rights trampled. Within a short time, Sahra Newspaper managed to become a platform for defending the cultural, political, and social rights of the Turkmen. However, Dr. Abdurrahman Dieji, the chief editor and owner of Sahra, eventually emigrated to Turkey under pressure from security forces. He is now a faculty member at Trakya University in Turkey.
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| Abdurrahman Dieji |
Dieji, who graduated with a degree in Performing Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and holds a Ph.D. in Art History from Istanbul University, spoke to Zamaneh about the state of media freedom during the presidencies of Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:
"During Khatami’s time, things were relatively better. Occasionally, we received warnings from security authorities, but there were no serious issues. Sometimes we would be taken to court by the provincial police command due to critical articles about the lack of security in Turkmen Sahra, and sometimes our office sign in Gorgan was broken or taken down. However, after Ahmadinejad’s era began, the environment became completely securitized. Our Sahra, especially, which had played a major role in organizing Turkmen Sahra’s reformists and supporting reformist presidential candidates, became a target of the conservative faction and security forces. In security meetings, I was described as a dangerous person. Afterward, they tried to undermine us by cutting the paper subsidies. Those familiar with the press know that publications with weak financial foundations cannot survive without paper subsidies."
These pressures were applied to Sahra Newspaper despite the rights outlined in the Press Law, which states in Chapter Three that the press has the right to criticize, express opinions, and freely gather and publish domestic and international news. Article Four of this law further states that no government or non-government authority has the right to pressure the press or engage in censorship or control over publications.
The Newspaper as a Substitute for a Political Party
In the 2000s, Sahra Newspaper became a platform for dialogue and unity among Turkmen intellectuals in Turkmen Sahra, filling the void left by the absence of independent political parties and organizations. This role attracted the attention of security forces.
Abdurrahman Dieji spoke about the intensified pressure from intelligence and government officials during those years:
"The year Ahmadinejad came to power, I once used one of Ahmadinejad's statements from the 'Rooz' website as a headline. According to Rooz, Ahmadinejad had told the Turkmen in 'Bojnord,' who were asking for assistance: 'Go ask for help from the person you voted for.' This was because the Turkmen had voted for Moein. That same year, we were cut off from receiving subsidized paper. Security forces would occasionally come to Sahra’s office, issuing warnings and sometimes threats due to certain articles published in the paper. Sometimes they would even make favorable offers, but they expected us to align the newspaper with their policies and publish carefully curated content in various issues. I believe they were mainly pursuing religious objectives and aiming for assimilation among the Turkmen, but I only focused on my mission and purpose. My conscience wouldn’t allow me to compromise. I continued on my path."
Throughout his career, Dieji was repeatedly targeted with anonymous threats. He was even once assaulted by unknown individuals and was severely injured.
He says about the incident:
"It wasn't clear who they were, and I couldn't prove it in court, but it was as clear as day to me where they were getting their orders. They had made life incredibly difficult for me in every way, but detailing all of it would go beyond the scope of this report and might one day become the subject of a novel."
Following these pressures, Dieji was ultimately forced to emigrate, though he never gave up managing Sahra Newspaper and would occasionally send in articles for publication.
The newspaper’s license holder notes that he never intended to emigrate permanently; his goal was to return to his homeland when Iran's political situation improved. However, with each passing year, not only has the situation not improved, but it has also deteriorated.
Even in Turkey, Dieji hasn’t abandoned his work in the press. He continues writing critical articles in Persian and Turkish and has made efforts to introduce Turkmen Sahra and its political and social situation to the Turkish media:
"I left the newspaper in the hands of a trusted editor friend, who worked hard to keep it going for a few years. But a publication without its chief editor couldn't have much freedom and was forced to self-censor. I once formally introduced a writer from Turkmen Sahra as the new chief editor, with a written request, but they didn't accept it. It seemed they preferred a publication whose chief editor was far away, considering it less of a threat. In this way, a few years passed, but Sahra never deviated from its original mission. I kept an eye on things from afar and occasionally sent in articles, until eventually, the publication's license was revoked."
Opposition to Sahra’s License Revocation
The revocation of Sahra Newspaper's license sparked a wave of opposition from journalists and political activists in the Turkmen Sahra region, with some openly condemning the move as a violation of freedom of expression and human rights.
According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of borders.
Freedom of expression and opinion is also emphasized in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
However, the repression, license revocations, and purging of journalists has been part of the Islamic Republic’s record since the 1979 revolution and the rise to power of Ruhollah Khomeini, and this trend has continued to the present day.
Now, unfortunately, Sahra Newspaper has met a similar fate. This newspaper, whose journalists sought a glimmer of hope to resolve the crises faced by Iranian Turkmen, has faced closure. To maintain the newspaper’s financial independence, its contributors sometimes even wrote for it on a voluntary basis.
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Link to the original source in Farsi: https://www.radiozamaneh.com/535445/