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| Tabriz University |
University professors from Azerbaijan’s provinces have sent a letter to the president, urging the government to take immediate steps to ensure the teaching of their mother tongue in schools and universities.
Among the 196 signatories of the letter are faculty members from universities in Tabriz, Ardabil, Urmia, and Maragheh. They have called on the president to introduce a bill in parliament for the teaching of their native language.
In their letter, the professors also addressed the rejection of the Education Commission’s proposal regarding the teaching of ethnic languages in schools. They emphasized that this decision contradicts the promises made by the president during his election campaign.
The academics have demanded that the president, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the teachings of the Quran, and Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution, prepare and submit a fair bill to parliament that guarantees the language and education rights of all people living in these lands.
The university professors’ statement highlighted that the proposed law should ensure equal educational opportunities for ethnic communities and include the teaching of their mother tongue from preschool to university.
The letter also referenced neighboring countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where multilingualism is officially recognized, and called on the Iranian government to draft and submit a fair and comprehensive bill on this issue.
The proposal presented by the parliament’s Education Commission was rejected by a majority vote in a session held on February 26. During that session, a government representative also spoke against the proposal, which has sparked strong criticism among Iran’s Turkish community. These criticisms continue.
On March 6, during the inauguration ceremony of the new head of the East Azerbaijan Department of Culture and Guidance, Tabriz MP Alireza Novin once again protested against the government representative’s speech in parliament.
In his speech, Novin stated that some individuals at the parliamentary session attempted to frame the issue as a security concern by referring to the views of certain figures from the 1990s, including members of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and former Foreign Minister. The individuals he was referring to are widely believed to be Ali Akbar Velayati and Gholamali Haddad-Adel, also head of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature.
Shortly before the parliamentary debate, Haddad-Adel had stated in an interview with IRNA that people learn and speak their mother tongue at home, emphasizing the necessity of education in Persian.
During his speech at the ceremony, Novin expressed regret that this right, which is explicitly stated in the Constitution and repeatedly promised by all presidents and members of parliament during their election campaigns, has still not been fulfilled.
The MP also pointed to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s promises regarding the rejection of the parliamentary bill, expressing hope that the new bill, which the government is expected to submit to parliament, would address concerns arising from the government representative’s remarks.
In recent days, particularly after the rejection of the proposal in parliament, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani stated that the administration is currently working on a comprehensive bill regarding “education in the mother tongue.” According to her, this bill is broader and more inclusive than previous proposals, which had only allowed for the voluntary teaching of ethnic languages in schools.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İran Azərbaycanında 196 universitet müəllimi ana dilində təhsilin təmin olunmasını tələb edir