tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70581709388494605592024-03-28T00:37:35.132-07:00The Question of Ethnic and Linguistic Marginalization in IranAmplifying the voices of South Azerbaijani Turks and challenging power imbalances in Iran.South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-72799466828669502802024-02-22T17:38:00.000-08:002024-03-27T16:57:38.120-07:00 Vahid Qarabağlı: The Iranian state tries to border the Turkish language, keeping it at a local level<p>February 22, 2024 - <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/author/%C9%99lirza-quluncu/iytmr" target="_blank">Əlirza Quluncu</a> (<a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" target="_blank">Alirza Quluncu</a>)<br /><br />Sociologist and language activist <a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/5" target="_blank">Vahid Qarabağlı</a> stated in an <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7497744.html" target="_blank">interview </a>with Voice of America on International Mother Language Day that the Iranian state is trying to keep the Turkish language at a local level.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/vahid-qarabagl-iranian-state-tries-to.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioHbi5BrMnPseHnA8xxw6Vb3UgTA4nAxP_0lNJEs4M_PElVmkKIFieF7Mjw0vzcFj1dm3AwWZsw7qI9t47ccYdh8ZeJMfvRm-Y3KFxEyiTf6hKVDTexBhXrbk_oPa6yW0X8aB1vbXhqDP5n__QoHhozH7BusNGLfXjMUMy-lbQS-rP5eythE0tEbCjOU/w400-h240/turk-dili-1000x600.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/vahid-qarabagl-iranian-state-tries-to.html" rel="nofollow"><br />A poster was displayed at one of the Tractor football club's games in Tehran. It reads, "Open schools for Turkish education."</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/vahid-qarabagl-iranian-state-tries-to.html" rel="nofollow"><span></span></a></div><p>Qarabağlı also says that the Turkish language is central to the civil struggle in Iranian Azerbaijan.</p><p>"The civil movement in Southern Azerbaijan and the movement of Turks place language at the center. Because they feel that the Turkish community and the Azerbaijan region are subjected to a form of discrimination through language."<br /></p><br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="144" scrolling="no" src="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/embed/player/0/7497740.html?type=audio" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br /><span></span><a name='more'></a>Qarabağlı draws attention to the efforts of many writers and intellectuals in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran over the past 45 years to promote the Turkish language through publications:<p></p><p>"For example, after the 1979 Revolution, the Varlıq magazine, created by intellectuals such as Dr. Heyet and Dr. Nutqi, engaged in activities related to the Turkish language and literature. The leaders of this movement united around the Turkish language. Later, students also published Turkish magazines and demanded education in Turkish, advocating for the official recognition of Turkish in Iran. Slogans like 'There should be Turkish language schools for everyone' and 'Turkish should be official' are also voiced in stadiums."</p><p>Vahid Qarabağlı argues that the language issue in Iranian Azerbaijan is a matter of status. He says, "In Iran, the Turkish issue is a matter of status. With the emergence of the modern Iranian state and the establishment of public education and the press in the early 20th century, the Iranian state attempted to establish its authority throughout the country, and one way in which it attempted to do so was through language... They denigrated and denied Turkish in Iran. They said that these people don't speak Turkish; if they do, they are speaking "Azeri," which has Persian roots and has become Turkified throughout history. Thus, the Turkish language was marginalized in state institutions and cultural fields."</p><p>The sociologist highlights that the discrimination applied through language also manifests in other areas of life.</p><p>He states, "There are different narratives and discourses regarding the Turkish issue within the civil movement of Turks in Iran. There is a discourse of rights and a discourse of status. However, the status lens makes understanding its political, social, economic, and historical dimensions possible. Because different power relations have been created through language in Iran, Turks are relegated to second-class citizen status through language."</p><p>Vahid Qarabağlı adds, "The Iranian government's attempt to control Turkish actually shows that the government sees this issue as a matter of status. The Iranian government wants to keep Turkish at a local level. Just as the government does not provide opportunities for Turkish students in schools, it does not allow its development and use at the national level. It tries to limit its contact with Turkish on other sides of the border and within neighboring countries such as Azerbaijan and Türkiye, and seeks to limit any grassroots efforts that seek to build these linguistic bridges and exchanges which could benefit from language resources and opportunities available there. It sees Turkish as a threat."</p><span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-76021113845190590572023-12-03T16:39:00.000-08:002024-03-27T16:59:09.858-07:00Vahid Qarabağlı: "Assimilation policy in Iran is systematic and institutional"<p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">December 03, 2023 - </span><a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/author/%C9%99lirza-quluncu/iytmr" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Əlirza Quluncu</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"> (</span><a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Alirza Quluncu</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">)<br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/vahid-qarabagl-assimilation-policy-in.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5rj_Z5UXEKvdCuWntn7pixpXoHZMAp57GeXeXc4oCs-rJndfeYSvRDiQ2yB8HsxlVu9uuRrjQjK8VPcAfiWCO4V4BYobg2iLXTgIqq43tZzKXLtNaT-3BYYGCdcOacZ0F5ND1ULApKpsbxSU6b3mdiiMTvgDDxIJwOr2CmvTsDx3Cy5PhWpWOMwMZ_-k/w400-h225/Vahid%20Qarabagli.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/vahid-qarabagl-assimilation-policy-in.html" rel="nofollow"><br />Vahid Qarabağlı</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Sociologist Vahid Qarabağlı, speaking to <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7381412.html " target="_blank">Voice of America</a>, says that the assimilation policy towards Turks in Iran is not based on the wishes of some ultra-nationalist groups but instead applied through institutional and systematic state policies.<br /><br />"When discussing the assimilation policy towards Turkish and the process of weakening Turkish in Iran, I see this as institutional and a product of a socio-historical process," Qarabağlı says.<br /><br />He mentions that various institutions, from educational institutions to legislative and law enforcement bodies, play a role in the assimilation system.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="144" scrolling="no" src="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/embed/player/0/7381404.html?type=audio" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br /><span></span><p></p><a name='more'></a>Qarabağlı's observations paint a grim picture. He points out that All state institutions, including the judiciary, legislation, and constitution, favour the Persian language, thereby marginalizing other languages. When Turkish activists dare to question this injustice, for instance, when they simply demand education in their native language, the judiciary system and intelligence system step in to silence these activists.<br /><br />Qarabağlı argues that reducing the systematic and institutional assimilation system of the state against diversity and difference in the country solely to the "Iran Shahri ideology" of small elite nationalists is not accurate.<br /><br />In recent years, some local politicians and civil activists in Iranian Azerbaijan have voiced concerns about the influence of proponents of the 'Iran-Shahri ideology.' This ideology, which promotes the concept of 'Greater Iran' or Pan-Iranism, is believed to have infiltrated government agencies. Earlier, Tabriz MP Ahmad Alireza Beygi criticized Iranian officials for their anti-Turkey and anti-Azerbaijan statements, highlighting the influence of advocates of the 'Iran-Shahri ideology' within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<br /><br />According to Vahid Qarabağlı, "there is a systematic and institutional process here. They have the power, and they apply it. They pass laws regarding languages and promote a certain policy. Some advocate for a discourse called Iran-Shahri that extends beyond Iran's borders and sees Iran as a representative of "the great Persian civilization." However, the Iran-Shahri ideology is just one form or discourse of nationalist politics and ideology in Iran."<br /><br />He adds, "Reducing the entire issue of institutionalized and century-long centralist policies, ethnic, and language marginalization to the Iran-Shahri ideology would be ignoring the functions of the institutions within the system and the dominance of the Persian language in the constitution and the government's politics. That is defined as maintaining and reinforcing its hegemony over other languages and speakers. Reducing the issue's importance to the promoters of one ideology can mislead us in achieving fundamental change in the system, as it fails to recognize the problem as structural, institutional, and broader, requiring broader structural changes.<br /><br />Original link to the interview: https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7381412.html <p></p><span><!--more--></span>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-69444286053837193392023-04-28T10:47:00.019-07:002023-04-30T13:03:30.633-07:00Vahid Qarabağlı: "Iranian society becomes more politically active after mass protests"<p>April 28, 2023 - <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/author/%C9%99lirza-quluncu/iytmr" target="_blank">Əlirza Quluncu</a> (<a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" target="_blank">Alirza Quluncu</a>)</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/04/vahid-qarabagl-iranian-society-becomes.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="710" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfsTemfoXjxYMi-bqQOWuKH6TzTpxBV_uoG6vOFCTLLOJI2wezNo2z_Gs18bytxBCj2vcz-FuJw3RgKhccHUxCNV9W8xbUpfZg4rNTAZ9LDrQ_1RkBSXX0b6g-rdGUMWu3bXnKokEI5Y453Gj5uuYJ0CCLswtyYVsfixMjMgUMwQURS21FVfy0VgX/w162-h200/Vahid%20Qarabagli.jpg" width="162" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/04/vahid-qarabagl-iranian-society-becomes.html" rel="nofollow"><br />Vahid Qarabağlı<br /><br /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/27" target="_blank">Vahid Qarabağlı</a>, a sociologist and Turkish language activist who <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7069934.html" target="_blank">spoke </a>to Voice of America, says that the recent mass protests against the government in Iran have further politicized Iranian society. He emphasizes that political dissent is no longer limited to certain segments of society, such as elites, student activists, women activists, and minoritized ethnic activists.</span><br /><br />"After the protests, we saw a broad politicization in Iranian society. Prior to that, those interested in politics were certain groups and classes; the elites, student activists, women activists, and ethnic activist groups. However, then the pressure from the regime increased. There were protests in all cities. The protests continued for months, and people talked about it. A new generation joined the protests. This further politicized Iranian society," Qarabağlı says.<br /><br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="144" scrolling="no" src="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/embed/player/0/7069933.html?type=audio" width="100%"></iframe><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br />He also highlights that there has been significant activism among Iranian diaspora communities, paralleling the situation within the country:<br /><br />"People outside the country also talk on social media. They participate in protests and participate in the organization of these protests. In other words, there has been a revitalization within different communities and groups. For example, we saw a revitalization among Turks living in the diaspora. They organized actions and panels in different cities."<br /><br />Recently, the Islamic Republic has begun implementing new projects to further control women's clothing. The government seals some workplaces and commercial sites in different provinces for non-compliance with dress codes. Iranian police identify female passengers who do not comply with dress codes through cameras located in different points of the cities and send them warning SMS messages.<br /><br />According to Vahid Qarabağlı, while some officials began giving positive messages about the dress code during the days of intense protests, the government increased its pressure as the intensity of the protests decreased.<br /><br />"The protests started very strong and flared up at one point. The government felt a lot of pressure from these protests and we witnessed some officials saying that we could actually grant some freedoms regarding the hijab issue. They started making some promises, albeit limited. But as the intensity of the protests decreased, they started talking about the importance of the hijab again. They said that the hijab is our red line," says Qarabağlı.<br /><br />According to him, as resistance to mandatory hijab among women increases, the government also increases pressure:<br /><br />"There is resistance among women in different cities. Women show resistance to mandatory hijab in different cities. They uncover their hair on the streets and in stores. The government also applies pressure against these. We actually see that the pressure from the government is increasing. For example, if women uncover their hair in a workplace, the government goes and punishes that workplace."<br /><br /><br />Original link to the interview: <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7069934.html" target="_blank">https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7069934.html </a></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-63787123358395394052023-03-01T19:34:00.000-08:002023-05-01T19:37:57.485-07:00Iranian Azerbaijani Turkish Rights Activist Released From Prison, Flouts Court-Ordered ‘Internal Exile’<p>March 01, 2023 - <a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Alirza Quluncu">Alirza Quluncu</a><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/iranian-azerbaijani-turkish-rights.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yFcdSm9Th8xX1ZXnQ6DzGblrYw-xa8YZPhfNfRZZ-scvF0h3aFfJjTKGf3ovQ148FDJuSb6F9qaQ8eUj0ldV3WfOGwo4BEVqQcVQh6RQuUPW1it--4E3xyK4AldY-j7F0iMx_SdOWpM7YKd1uoaYDpJJbKZxfNQ9M8nOfwZlwDru_DtlsWoY3FrN/w400-h225/Abbas_Lisani.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/iranian-azerbaijani-turkish-rights.html" rel="nofollow">FILE - Abbas Lisani is seen in this undated photograph from social media.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">A prominent Iranian Azerbaijani civil rights activist freed from prison last week in Iran is publicly defying his court-ordered sentence of “internal exile” in an act of civil disobedience.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Abbas Lisani served more than four years in prison after Iran's Revolutionary Court in Tabriz convicted him in 2019 of "forming groups with the purpose of disrupting national security."<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />The verdict cited his speeches, media interviews, and participation in protests as evidence of activities to disrupt national security. The long-time activist has spent nearly 10 years total in prison for his civil campaigns, such as taking part in cultural gatherings to mark International Mother Language Day.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div data-inline="False" data-owner-ct="Article" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="media-block also-read" style="border-top: 2px solid rgb(58, 121, 183); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: none; display: flow-root; margin: 0px 0px 24px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 12px; position: relative;"><a class="img-wrap img-wrap--size-3 also-read__img" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; display: block; float: left; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; width: 219.01px;" title="Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'"><span class="thumb thumb16_9" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; background-image: url("../img/image-placeholder.svg"); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; contain: content; display: block; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 123.188px; text-align: center;"><img alt="In a screengrab from UGC video posted on social media Nov. 4, 2022, protesters are seen setting fires during an anti-government rally in Tabriz, northwestern Iran." class="enhanced" data-src="https://gdb.voanews.com/02990000-0aff-0242-a414-08dac4155542_w100_r1.jpg" src="https://gdb.voanews.com/02990000-0aff-0242-a414-08dac4155542_w256_r1.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.5s ease-in-out 0s; width: 219.01px;" /></span></a><div class="media-block__content also-read__body also-read__body--h" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 234.656px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'"><span class="also-read__text--label" face="SkolarSans-BdCond_Cyr-Ltn, Arial, "Arial Unicode MS", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #a1aab4; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase;">SEE ALSO:</span><h4 class="media-block__title media-block__title--size-3 also-read__text p-0" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3875; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'</h4></a></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">When he was released from prison last week, a court imposed an additional two-year-long punishment of “internal exile.” Police escorted him to the central city of Yazd. He has since traveled back to his home city Ardabil, in northwest Iran, where he was welcomed by fellow civil rights activists and relatives.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Iranian authorities have not yet commented on his public rejection of the court’s sentence.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />In an October 2020 report, Amnesty International said it considered Lisani's imprisonment politically motivated, pointing out his long history of activism for the rights of Iran's Azerbaijani-Turkish community. The rights group has named him a prisoner of conscience on several occasions since 2006.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />"Lisani is known for his disobeying and not complying with regressive and strict laws. He stood up and did not comply with the cruel and inhuman flogging sentence in the past years, and now, he does not accept the additional sentence of living in exile in the city of Yazd," Sina Yuousefi, an attorney from the city of Tabriz, wrote in a Twitter post.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Many of Iran’s Azerbaijani Turks speak a dialect that the Iranian government does not allow to be taught in schools. Iran’s Islamist rulers have long feared that permitting the official use of Turkic dialects in the country could promote separatism among minorities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Azerbaijani Turk activists have criticized the ban, saying it violates Article 15 of Iran’s constitution, which allows for “the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools.”<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Abbas Lisani has been a longtime vocal opponent of government policies both inside and outside of prison.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Ammar Maleki, an Iranian political analyst currently working as an assistant professor of comparative politics at Tilburg University, traces Lisani’s outspoken defiance to a 2007 incident when he was ordered to receive 50 lashes as part of a prison sentence.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Lisani had been sentenced to 18 months in prison and 50 lashes for taking part in mass demonstrations in May 2006. The protests, which took place in Iranian Azerbaijan and some other Turkish-populated regions, were sparked by a caricature that was published in state-run Iran newspaper.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />The professor said Lisani challenged the sentence as illegal and that conscripts who were ordered to whip the man refused. Maleki wrote about the incident in an article and said he was later interrogated by Iranian authorities for publishing it.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />While in prison, Lisani went on hunger strikes several times to defend his legal rights.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />In May 2016, when Abbas Lasani started a hunger strike in Adel-Abad prison in the city of Shiraz, 11 other activists went into their own hunger strikes in different prisons in the cities of Tabriz, Ardabil and Karaj to support Lisani, according to the U.S.-based rights group, HRANA.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />In March 2017, when he was being tried in the Ardabil province on charges of "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the regime," Lisani refused to defend himself in Farsi, Iran's only official language.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Lisani, who was serving an eight-year sentence in Ardabil prison, was released last week after serving more than half of his jail term. He is believed to have been released as a result of a government amnesty aimed at appeasing critics of the Islamic Republic following months of anti-government protests. According to AFP, the amnesty resulted in the release of several dozen well-known prisoners across the country.<br /><br /><br />Link: <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/iranian-azerbaijani-rights-activist-in-iran-released-from-prison-flouts-court-ordered-internal-exile-/6985708.html">https://www.voanews.com/a/iranian-azerbaijani-rights-activist-in-iran-released-from-prison-flouts-court-ordered-internal-exile-/6985708.html</a></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-46850974404920083432022-12-13T19:17:00.008-08:002023-05-01T19:23:34.557-07:00Iran Protest Crackdown Targets Lawyers<p>December 13, 2022 - <a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Alirza Quluncu">Alirza Quluncu</a><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/iran-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="650" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcB_8R-jVabJHi9luuZGHjF6Pcc43CcxWZVW39_AfSdy5SNeejhX0NyTC5MaTZzwnkYil6TgWdVxu7f9gIhPY9DXctZ6OBtHpsQyxcc_kpPBue5ijQ8y7XM20zTANLYCW-Ztj_q1zA8X-z3hF7xVkWzCzdF0Bc4dVToB9dlezdDpq7xZ-fAqyqgPDD/w400-h210/Law.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/iran-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers.html" rel="nofollow">Sina Yousefi, Amir Mehdipour and Ghasem Bodi are seen in undated photos from social media.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">As Iran's anti-government protests continue, lawyers who have pledged to provide legal aid to protesters have come under increasing pressure from the country's judiciary and security forces. Since the beginning of nationwide protests in Iran in September, activists say at least 16 human rights lawyers have been arrested across the country, including four recently in the country's East Azerbaijan province.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Local sources say dozens of Azerbaijani-Turkish lawyers are coming under increasing government pressure for criticizing the crackdown on demonstrations and providing legal aid to those arrested during anti-government demonstrations. The East Azerbaijan provincial bar association is allegedly also under scrutiny.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">A source living inside Iran who is familiar with the lawyers' cases told VOA that in recent days, four attorneys working in Tabriz, the largest Azerbaijani Turkish population center in northwestern Iran, were sentenced to prison and banned from leaving the country. The source, who declined to speak on the record about the prosecutions for fear of government retaliation, also said the government opened disciplinary files for more than 50 active attorney members of the bar.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">East Azerbaijan's bar association got involved early in the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in Iran's morality police custody. Just a few weeks after nationwide protests erupted, the bar association formed a "Defense Committee" to provide legal aid to those arrested in connection with the protests.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The move was announced in mid-October by Sina Yousefi, an Azerbaijani Turk attorney and the vice chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the bar association. In a social media post, he claimed more than 1,700 people had been arrested in connection with the protests that took place in the city of Tabriz.</p><div class="clear" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="wsw__embed" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><div class="infgraphicsAttach" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 649.771px;"><div class="twitterSnippetProcessed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1580319284214972417" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1580319284214972417&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.voanews.com%2Fa%2Firan-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers-%2F6875121.html&sessionId=efb760f795faf8116ed3acb531abba05411b594e&siteScreenName=voanews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 801px; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Three days later, Iranian security forces arrested Yousefi and then detained three other local lawyers in Tabriz. The lawyers were released on bail after two to six weeks in custody.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Those arrested in the recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran are mostly facing charges such as "spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic," "forming group to disturb national security," and "disturbing public opinion."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">After his release, Ghasem Bodi said on his Twitter account that he was sentenced to five months in prison, as well as a fine, a ban on leaving the country, and an additional three months and one day in prison for criticizing the crackdown and defending the rights of detainees.</p><div class="clear" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="wsw__embed" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><div class="infgraphicsAttach" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 649.771px;"><div class="twitterSnippetProcessed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1598927729130209280" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1598927729130209280&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.voanews.com%2Fa%2Firan-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers-%2F6875121.html&sessionId=efb760f795faf8116ed3acb531abba05411b594e&siteScreenName=voanews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 296px; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div></div></div></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D7kpu3jGCS0Ci74b8cTSPU54wijRKKFki61GVzAc25ex7ohFhOJU4Z-ydGigkeb9PdzgP7Kd0BU5U10XlE3jHoeA8HCFGL4pI8VT9nKOjyq-ILjpo8PY-CZe-oqslkToC30Me5oSooizCnrei-snbTWxRwtqK5Lu8f6sa94x-N4_1s1IRi6N3iK8/s1025/Negin-Kiyani.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="792" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D7kpu3jGCS0Ci74b8cTSPU54wijRKKFki61GVzAc25ex7ohFhOJU4Z-ydGigkeb9PdzgP7Kd0BU5U10XlE3jHoeA8HCFGL4pI8VT9nKOjyq-ILjpo8PY-CZe-oqslkToC30Me5oSooizCnrei-snbTWxRwtqK5Lu8f6sa94x-N4_1s1IRi6N3iK8/w154-h200/Negin-Kiyani.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Negin Kiyani</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The local source familiar with the cases said two other lawyers detained in Tabriz, Yousefi and Amir Mehdipour, were sentenced to six months in prison, a two-year ban on leaving the country, and the confiscation of their electronic devices. The lawyers were charged with "spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic," the source added. The fourth arrested lawyer, Negin Kayani, reportedly has not yet been charged.</p><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><br /><br />Lawyers face legal peril</strong><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />The increasing pressure on lawyers who are willing to defend people facing protest-related charges in Iranian courts can mean detainees do not have a lawyer of their choice or they have no attorney at all.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In recent years, Mohammad Reza Faqihi and Sina Yousefi, as well as a few other Azerbaijani Turk attorneys, have defended several Turkish-language rights activists facing similar charges of spreading propaganda or "disturbing public opinion" by Iran's revolutionary courts.</p><div data-inline="False" data-owner-ct="Article" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="media-block also-read" style="border-top: 2px solid rgb(58, 121, 183); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: none; display: flow-root; margin: 0px 0px 24px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 12px; position: relative;"><a class="img-wrap img-wrap--size-3 also-read__img" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/the-politics-of-iran-s-forbidden-names-/6580642.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; display: block; float: left; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; width: 219.01px;" title="The Politics of Iran's 'Forbidden Names'"><span class="thumb thumb16_9" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; background-image: url("../img/image-placeholder.svg"); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; contain: content; display: block; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 123.188px; text-align: center;"><img alt="FILE - An Iranian newborn cries in an incubator at a hospital in Tehran, Dec. 5, 2006. When naming their children, Iran's government requires that families pick from among a list of approved monikers." class="enhanced" data-src="https://gdb.voanews.com/03190000-0aff-0242-3427-08da39a5f9d8_w100_r1.jpg" src="https://gdb.voanews.com/03190000-0aff-0242-3427-08da39a5f9d8_w256_r1.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.5s ease-in-out 0s; width: 219.01px;" /></span></a><div class="media-block__content also-read__body also-read__body--h" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 234.656px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/the-politics-of-iran-s-forbidden-names-/6580642.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="The Politics of Iran's 'Forbidden Names'"><span class="also-read__text--label" face="SkolarSans-BdCond_Cyr-Ltn, Arial, "Arial Unicode MS", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #a1aab4; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase;">SEE ALSO:</span><h4 class="media-block__title media-block__title--size-3 also-read__text p-0" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3875; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Politics of Iran's 'Forbidden Names'</h4></a></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The Turks are Iran's largest linguistic minority, residing primarily in Iranian Azerbaijan, which is bordered by the nations of Azerbaijan and Turkey.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The government of Iran has never published official statistics on the population of the country's ethnic and linguistic groups. During his official visit to Turkey in January 2011, however, then-Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated that 40% of Iranians speak Turkish.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Most Azerbaijani Turks are Shia Muslims, which is the official state religion of Iran, but they have long been barred from education in their native tongue.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif" style="color: #222f3a;">Original link to the article: </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif" style="color: #222f3a;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers-/6875121.html">https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-protest-crackdown-targets-lawyers-/6875121.html</a></span></span></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-47606243860863062622022-11-21T18:51:00.009-08:002023-05-01T19:36:52.931-07:00Student Death Fuels Protests Among Iran's Azerbaijani Turks<p>November 21, 2022 - <a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Alirza Quluncu">Alirza Quluncu</a><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/student-death-fuels-protests-among.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR08jFEUADD4BgctmeZduHVwx4w_AdBmRtIC9nNpecaztRxYV6oy0uVTKOe0MRiCO1I7sl8hyH_4p83kGZmjaxh4T-Bt-ZpZfGpj03S8cvBlalJX8c9Z_P5zIpeFowEosFevOz5r56FMou6IqcMJjEQjUkntM509fnD0N8L8_feb8QqNm3yS2MgciJ/w400-h225/Aylar%20Haqi.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="cover-media" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 32px;"><figure class="media-image js-media-expand js-media-expand--ready" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><figcaption style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span class="caption" data-cms-inline-text="" data-cms-inline-wrap="caption" itemprop="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #5c646b; display: block; font-size: 14px; padding-top: 8px;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/05/student-death-fuels-protests-among.html" rel="nofollow">Azerbaijani Turk protester Aylar Haghi died on November 16.</a></span></figcaption></figure></div><div class="news__buttons news__buttons--main pos-abs" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px -3em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px;"><button class="btn btn--news btn--news-more pos-abs" style="appearance: none; background: rgb(236, 104, 3); border-radius: 3px; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: white; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1px; outline: none; padding: 4px 5px; position: absolute; right: 0px; touch-action: manipulation; visibility: hidden;"><span class="ico ico-chevron-down" face="icons-font-1661417065025" style="-webkit-box-align: center; -webkit-box-pack: center; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; align-items: center; background: none 15.2542% 0px no-repeat transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; justify-content: center; line-height: inherit; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"></span></button><button class="btn btn--news btn--sticky btn--news-less pos-fix" style="appearance: none; background: rgb(236, 104, 3); border-radius: 3px; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: white; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; left: 803px; margin-left: 1px; outline: none; padding: 4px 5px; position: fixed; top: 150px; touch-action: manipulation;"></button></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Iranian authorities are reportedly detaining dozens of people among the Azerbaijani Turk communities in the country's northwest after a local medical student was killed during an anti-government protest last week.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Aylar Haqqi, a 23-year-old medical student, was killed last Wednesday while attending protests in Tabriz. On Friday, mourners attending her funeral at Tabriz's Vadi Rahmat Cemetery were attacked by Iranian security forces.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Videos posted online show security forces on motorcycles beating mourners and <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="wsw__a" href="https://twitter.com/amerikaninsesi/status/1593685846665748480" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 236); box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; padding-bottom: 0.05em; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">protesters who are heard chanting</a></strong> anti-government slogans such as "we are all Aylars, we will fight back," "the people of Azerbaijan will not tolerate this oppression" as well as the popular slogan of "freedom, justice and national government."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">By Saturday, protesters angered by Haqqi's death took to the streets of Tabriz, as well as the city of Malekan (locally known as Melikkendi), Haqqi's hometown located south of Iran's East Azerbaijan Province.<br /></p><div data-inline="False" data-owner-ct="Article" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="media-block also-read" style="border-top: 2px solid rgb(58, 121, 183); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 5px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: none; display: flow-root; margin: 0px 0px 24px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 12px; position: relative;"><a class="img-wrap img-wrap--size-3 also-read__img" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; display: block; float: left; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; width: 219.01px;" title="Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'"><span class="thumb thumb16_9" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; background-image: url("../img/image-placeholder.svg"); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; contain: content; display: block; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 123.188px; text-align: center;"><img alt="In a screengrab from UGC video posted on social media Nov. 4, 2022, protesters are seen setting fires during an anti-government rally in Tabriz, northwestern Iran." class="enhanced" data-src="https://gdb.voanews.com/02990000-0aff-0242-a414-08dac4155542_w100_r1.jpg" src="https://gdb.voanews.com/02990000-0aff-0242-a414-08dac4155542_w256_r1.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; filter: brightness(90%) contrast(120%); height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.5s ease-in-out 0s; width: 219.01px;" /></span></a><div class="media-block__content also-read__body also-read__body--h" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 234.656px; padding: 0px;"><span class="also-read__text--label" face="SkolarSans-BdCond_Cyr-Ltn, Arial, "Arial Unicode MS", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #a1aab4; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase; touch-action: manipulation;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'">SEE ALSO:</a></span><h4 class="media-block__title media-block__title--size-3 also-read__text p-0" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3875; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'">Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'</a></h4><div><br /></div></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Iran Wire, a diaspora news website run by journalists outside Iran using social media and other content from citizen journalists from inside the country, reported on Sunday that dozens have been arrested in the provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan and Ardabil, after calls to hold memorials for those killed in anti-government protests. Iran Wire published names of more than 40 Azerbaijani Turks who were detained by Iranian security forces in the cities of Tabriz, Melikkendi, Urmia, Khoy and Ardabil in the past few days.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Iranian authorities continue to claim the ongoing protests are being backed by outside "enemies" including the United States, France and other European countries. In remarks Sunday published by the IRNA state news agency, President Ebrahim Raisi said authorities are taking steps aimed at "nullifying the seditions plotted abroad."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The U.S., Canada, Britain and the European Union have announced sanctions against those behind the crackdown on protesters. However, they have declined to go along with some protesters' calls to cut ties entirely with Tehran.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Twitter feed charts political divides</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Iran's state news agency IRNA claimed that Haqqi died after falling into a construction pit. However, one of her close relatives told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Haqqi was shot from behind by security forces when she took part in protests in Tabriz.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Posts on her Twitter account from the last two years (where she published under the nickname "Ay Yuzlu" meaning "moon-faced" in Turkish), show she spoke out on women's rights, as well as other social, political and human rights issues faced by Iranian people, and by the Azerbaijani Turks in particular.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In the past couple of months, Haqqi had been tweeting in support of the nationwide protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, whose death while being detained by Iran's morality police sparked nationwide protests.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="wsw__a" href="https://twitter.com/ay_____l_ar/status/1592878726014210048" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 236); box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; padding-bottom: 0.05em; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">In her last tweet</a>,</strong> apparently posted shortly before her death Wednesday evening, Haqqi wrote, "In Tabriz, all the shops were closed except for Lara [women's clothing store]," referring to the nationwide strike in protest of Iran's violent crackdown.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">She tweeted in support of anti-government protests in previous years as well.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In July 2021, hours after a gathering that took place in Tabriz in solidarity with protests over water shortages in Iran's Arab-populated Khuzestan province, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="wsw__a" href="https://twitter.com/ay_____l_ar/status/1419017645106606084" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 236); box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; padding-bottom: 0.05em; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">Haqqi tweeted</a>,</strong> "Azerbaijan knows well when not to be silent."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Haqqi made notable efforts on social media to learn writing in her native language, which is banned from being taught in the Iranian schools.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"I have been thinking for several days that something is missing. Now, I remember, I have not tweeted in Turkish for long time. Even if I get fewer likes, this is my mother tongue," <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="wsw__a" href="https://twitter.com/ay_____l_ar/status/1336764332567359501" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 236); box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; padding-bottom: 0.05em; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">she tweeted</a></strong> in December 2020.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">A day after Haqqi's death, Ruzbeh Saadati, a former political prisoner and civil rights activist living in the Azerbaijani-Turkish-populated city of Zanjan, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="wsw__a" href="https://twitter.com/Ruzbeh_Saadati/status/1593410457209036801" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 236); box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; padding-bottom: 0.05em; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">quoted her tweet</a>,</strong> stating that "one day, schools will be built and books will be published in Aylar Haqqi's mother tongue, but does her tweet not deserve our likes today?"</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The Turks are Iran's largest linguistic minority, residing primarily in Iranian Azerbaijan bordered by the nations of Azerbaijan and Turkey.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The government of Iran has never published official statistics on the population of the country's ethnic and linguistic groups. However, during his official visit to Turkey in January 2011, then-Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated that 40% of Iranians speak Turkish.<br /><br />Most Azerbaijani Turks are Shia Muslims, which is the official state religion of Iran, but they have long been barred from education in their native tongue.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif" style="color: #222f3a;">Original link: <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/student-death-fuels-protests-among-iran-s-azerbaijani-turks/6844330.html " target="_blank">https://www.voanews.com/a/student-death-fuels-protests-among-iran-s-azerbaijani-turks/6844330.html </a></span></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-24733681549844608962022-11-11T12:53:00.031-08:002023-05-01T19:37:23.064-07:00Azerbaijani Turks in Iran Demand 'Freedom, Justice, National Government'<p><a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Alirza Quluncu">Alirza Quluncu</a> - <span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif" style="background-color: white; color: #a1aab4; font-size: 14px;">November 11, 2022 - </span><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif" style="color: #a1aab4;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">VOA NEWS ON IRAN<br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif" style="color: #a1aab4;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoU6ubBfRvSaQPJirEs_ZdP4VzquHMPRcyOgjAgoLt3dXECIXBNT_I_wJ8oLPKf_8q3ygGnrPq020LXHiu8aQ8sAn0-kvirzjAuZSSxjzpmZs49FPUyNck0Iq6_ZAuv3-E2Js21hJqQ3arzb4jt5u-ZFjm9HQk6ny3QI9-5TxojCZ8ea2LIlsPAIYy/w518-h291/Kad%C4%B1n-%C4%B0ran.jpg" width="518" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">As anti-government protests continue across Iran, "freedom, justice and national government" has become a common slogan on the streets of Tabriz, Urmia and Ardabil, the three largest Azerbaijani-Turkish population centers in northwestern Iran.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The demands quickly caught the attention of the country’s other non-Persian communities.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Protesters early this month chanted the popular slogan as well as "sovereignty for nations,” “freedom for women" and "the business of the mullahs: theft, murder and treason" in videos posted on social media showing protests in the Girkh-Metr and Shahnaz neighborhoods of Tabriz. The demonstrations marked 40 days since the death of a female protester in the custody of Iranian’s security forces.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Hadis Najafi, an ethnic Azerbaijani Turk, became a symbol of anti-government protests after she was shot and killed on September 21 in the central city of Karaj while taking part in demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by Iran’s morality police.<span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZOfXStP9smyT-8h7R_UAIPX8MY3twyjEFmc93JvoG9uhBmuMQN4dfTXEDFrzTJcEtFEGRh4bP9VvqsphtaFFjJoD7czgsV5AQtmt_k8n929zwjWXjw25PlLyFvKm_HURqQFFGgYJYoCGqWMO6KljNd_it23hz8Q0QxZ2eOSeEXolBfKxU4IHvfHK/s1597/Turks%20in%20Iran.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1597" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZOfXStP9smyT-8h7R_UAIPX8MY3twyjEFmc93JvoG9uhBmuMQN4dfTXEDFrzTJcEtFEGRh4bP9VvqsphtaFFjJoD7czgsV5AQtmt_k8n929zwjWXjw25PlLyFvKm_HURqQFFGgYJYoCGqWMO6KljNd_it23hz8Q0QxZ2eOSeEXolBfKxU4IHvfHK/w507-h285/Turks%20in%20Iran.png" width="507" /></a><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif" style="background-color: white; color: #768492; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br />[Iranian Azerbaijan] -Turkish population centers in northwestern Iran<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The slogans that are heard and sometimes appear on banners in northwestern Iran are mostly in the Azerbaijani-Turkish dialect common in the region, which like the neighboring country is called Azerbaijan.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />After the establishment of the modern Iranian nation-state in 1925 by Reza Shah, Azerbaijani-Turkish was taught in schools very briefly during a short-lived autonomous "Azerbaijan National Government" in 1945-46. The term “national government” in the protest slogan is a reference to the period of Iranian Azerbaijan’s autonomy.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />However, calls for national autonomy in Iranian Azerbaijan are considered divisive not only by the Iranian authorities but also among many members of dissident groups.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Iranian authorities and the state-run media present those who were detained in recent protests in northwestern Iran as separatists and backers of "pan-Turkism" – labels usually applied to Turkish-language rights activists in Iran.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Fars News, a semiofficial agency with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported on October 19 that pan-Turkism advocates along with individuals from monarchist, Kurdish, MEK (People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran) and Marxist groups were arrested during the protests that took place in the capital, Tehran.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />In an interview with VOA, Mahsa Mehdili, an exiled political activist from Iran's West Azerbaijan province now living in Turkey, said that these slogans show that Azerbaijani Turks want to take part in anti-government protests with their own identity and demands.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />"We can interpret these slogans in many ways. But the bottom line is that a people want to take their destinies into their own hands and manage their own material and spiritual wealth," Mehdili said. "In fact, cooperation between Iran's different ethnic communities including Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Balochs and Persians for common causes will be possible only by accepting and recognizing each other’s identities, characteristics and differences."<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP8wxXEA6Ty33SoA4kSrTBVGepVGcwdSYbtcqrpbZoFXgNNWTgMPNW6x6NOHPgCRSLPEN9m_xkxzY1BU_LvqST2isbWxeWReNeXASBnrNZdkJfp3vRxlyA8lIkWHhwrqD3scbkcQDfNscu6NynfBBI6SVsgIeeI8cF2lM9WhjcN1nsRt6gj9czNncV/s650/Freedom,%20Justice,%20Iranian%20Turks.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="650" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP8wxXEA6Ty33SoA4kSrTBVGepVGcwdSYbtcqrpbZoFXgNNWTgMPNW6x6NOHPgCRSLPEN9m_xkxzY1BU_LvqST2isbWxeWReNeXASBnrNZdkJfp3vRxlyA8lIkWHhwrqD3scbkcQDfNscu6NynfBBI6SVsgIeeI8cF2lM9WhjcN1nsRt6gj9czNncV/w529-h298/Freedom,%20Justice,%20Iranian%20Turks.webp" width="529" /></a><span face="Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif" style="background-color: white; color: #768492; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br />In a UGC photo posted on social media Nov. 2, 2022, protesters in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, unfurl a banner reading "Freedom, justice, national government."</span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><br />The "freedom, justice and national government" phrase has caught the attention of Iran's other Turkish-speaking communities. A group of Qashqai Turks were seen shouting the same slogan in videos taken at the funeral of Qashqai Turk author and community leader Esedullah Merdani Rahimi, held in Shiraz on October 24.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />The slogan was first popularized during a gathering that took place in Tabriz on July 24, 2021, in solidarity with protests over water shortages in Iran's Arab-populated Khuzestan province.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />According to Yousef Azizi Benitorof, an Iranian Arab writer and journalist, "freedom, justice and national government" is a manifesto that aims to create a federal system in Iran.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />"People in Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil and other cities in [the Iranian province of] Azerbaijan have been chanting 'freedom, justice and national government' since the peoples of Iran started their revolution on September 16," Benitorof wrote in a Facebook post, referring to the nationwide protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini’s death.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />"This slogan is a rights manifesto of people of Azerbaijan," said Benitorof. "This manifesto aims to create a federal system for Iran and a federal government for the Turkish-populated region of Azerbaijan. By raising this slogan, the revolution of the Iranian peoples has taken a step forward."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The Turks are Iran's largest linguistic minority, residing primarily in Iranian Azerbaijan bordered by the nations of Azerbaijan and Turkey.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />The government of Iran has never published official statistics on the population of the country's ethnic and linguistic groups. However, during his official visit to Turkey in January 2011, then-Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated that 40 percent of Iranians speak Turkish.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />"We speak almost the same language. Forty percent of the Iranians speak Turkish. This is a big link between Turkey and Iran," Salehi said in response to a journalist's question over Iran-Turkey bilateral relations.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vc9WJ9U2uHo" width="550" youtube-src-id="Vc9WJ9U2uHo"></iframe></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Most Azerbaijani Turks are Shia Muslims, which is the official state religion of Iran, but they have long been barred from education in their native tongue.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijan Service.</em></p></div></div><br /><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html" target="_blank">https://www.voanews.com/a/azerbaijani-turks-in-iran-demand-freedom-justice-national-government-/6830812.html </a>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-36952859994504742302022-11-09T12:34:00.013-08:002022-11-09T12:53:52.367-08:00A Story Of Power, Oppression And Resistance: How Iranian Women Are Leading A Revolution<p> <a class="contrib-link--name remove-underline not-premium-contrib-link--name" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 600; line-height: 16px; margin-right: 5px; text-decoration-line: none;">Janice Gassam Asare</a>, <span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #737373; font-size: 14px;"><span face="Work Sans, sans-serif"><span style="text-transform: capitalize;">Senior Contributor<br /></span></span></span><span face="tabular-numbers, Georgia" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #737373; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">I help create strategies for more diversity, equity, and inclusion.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-size: 14px;"><span face="tabular-numbers, Georgia" style="color: #737373;"><i>Nov 8, 2022<br /></i></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="tabular-numbers, Georgia" style="color: #737373;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2022/11/08/a-story-of-power-oppression-and-resistance-how-iranian-women-are-leading-a-revolution/?sh=2a59c47e51a2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="960" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kfJiQ7nJeGFHIUXx7R73VcYnsQ5s6i1kuHevm7tDvtA6ASMq7iB0fFoQj6wa1PFWC1QxF4_emRk3dhG1uZ96_kI12H9rjbFYIBDUIsqnOQnLXj8AI-6SEZo8JAG71EOd1kvWWxoyGz98IietlN9bfL8X_1G72yrfJM-nzRhE2dkzCLBCrf-QtY2L/w400-h321/Sevil_Suleymani.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/SevilSuleymani" target="_blank">Sevil Suleymani</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">The death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman </span><a aria-label="Mahsa Amini" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.newsweek.com/death-mahsa-amini-rocked-iran-1745815" href="https://www.newsweek.com/death-mahsa-amini-rocked-iran-1745815" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.newsweek.com/death-mahsa-amini-rocked-iran-1745815">Mahsa Amini</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> has sparked protests in Iran. Amini was arrested for breaking the country’s law that requires women to cover their hair with a headscarf and she later died while in police custody. Since Amini’s death, </span><a aria-label="women" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/women-remove-hijab-in-protest-after-woman-dies-for-breaking-dress-code/" href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/women-remove-hijab-in-protest-after-woman-dies-for-breaking-dress-code/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/women-remove-hijab-in-protest-after-woman-dies-for-breaking-dress-code/">women</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> and </span><a aria-label="girls" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63128184" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63128184" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63128184">girls</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> in Iran have been removing their headscarves as a form of protest. Now, all eyes are on Iran, with some </span><a aria-label="equating" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/politics/iran-women-protest-revolution-what-matters" href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/politics/iran-women-protest-revolution-what-matters" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/politics/iran-women-protest-revolution-what-matters">equating</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> women’s removal of their headscarves to the fall of the Berlin Wall. At least 1,000 people have now been </span><a aria-label="charged" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/middleeast/iran-lawmakers-judiciary-letter-protests-intl-hnk" href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/middleeast/iran-lawmakers-judiciary-letter-protests-intl-hnk" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/middleeast/iran-lawmakers-judiciary-letter-protests-intl-hnk">charged</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> for their involvement in the protests, which began in mid-September. Sevil Suleymani is an Iranian woman who has been using her </span><a aria-label="social media" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://twitter.com/SevilSuleymani" href="https://twitter.com/SevilSuleymani" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://twitter.com/SevilSuleymani">social media</a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> to speak out about what’s been happening in Iran. Suleymani sat down to discuss the state of the country and why Iranian women from marginalized backgrounds must be centered in the public discourse.<br /><br /></span></div></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Janice Gassam Asare</span>: Sevil, could you share a little bit more about who you are for the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Forbes </em>readers?</p><div class="halfway_hardwall_2" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Sevil Suleymani</span>: My name is Sevil Suleymani. Currently resident in United States, but I was born and until age of 17, I was in Iran, northern side. Originally, I'm Azerbaijani Turk from Turkish region of Iran, and besides that, the rest of my life I've been living in United States. Currently I'm doing a Ph.D. in Sociology and I'm working on my dissertation on social movements and ethnic minorities in the Middle East.</p><div class="halfway_hardwall_3" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Asare</span>: What are your thoughts around what is currently happening right now in Iran? What are you hearing about what's going on from any friends or family members that you have back home?<br /><br /></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Suleymani</span>: Yes. My whole family, all of my relatives, are living still in northern part of Iran and in Tehran as well. So, what's happening in Iran, actually first it was uprising, but now even we can call it a women's revolution. What I mean by women's revolution...is what ideologically has been done to women in last 40 years and the whole politics of oppression that has been in the name of women and use of women's body ideologically by the state.</p><div aria-hidden="true" data-google-query-id="CNvMm5v5ofsCFX0WrQYdQVYMSQ" id="article-0-inread" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/7175/fdc.forbes/article/standard/default/standard_2__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto;"><iframe aria-hidden="true" aria-label="Advertisement" data-google-container-id="1" data-integralas-id-93c5d3da-4957-b909-b876-36ef14743f5e="" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/7175/fdc.forbes/article/standard/default/standard_2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/7175/fdc.forbes/article/standard/default/standard_2" role="region" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="-1" title="Ad content" width="1"></iframe></div></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><fbs-ad ad-id="article-0-inread" aria-hidden="true" class="inread-active" display-called="" position="inread" progressive="" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin: 1.2rem 0px; overflow-x: auto; text-align: center;"></fbs-ad></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">This revolution is saying no to all of those systematic oppressions towards women and all other groups in Iran. Historically, we have to mention that over 40 years ago, 1979, when Iranian revolution took place, one of the first policies that they put in action was <a aria-label="compulsory hijab" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://theconversation.com/hijab-law-in-iran-over-the-decades-the-continuing-battle-for-reform-192037" href="https://theconversation.com/hijab-law-in-iran-over-the-decades-the-continuing-battle-for-reform-192037" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://theconversation.com/hijab-law-in-iran-over-the-decades-the-continuing-battle-for-reform-192037">compulsory hijab</a>. The reason they chose that, [was] because in the revolution they were thinking we are fighting against Western modernity. Covering women, this compulsory hijab, can be a first sign of saying no to Western society or Western ideology. So, what happened here, no one asked women if you want to wear [a] hijab or you want to say no, if you want that modernity or not. But women's body, it turned as a battleground between West and anti-Western ideology.<br /><br /></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Asare:</span> What is the best way to support the women and the people in Iran right now? What are some ways that we can amplify what's going on and support the people there?</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Suleymani:</span> First, hearing the stories, the correct and the multiple layers of what's happening in Iran. This, in the beginning, started with Mahsa Amini. This Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish girl who was beaten to death by morality police because of the compulsory hijab. This first tells us Iran is more than just being Persian, it's more than one ethnic group, because she was from a Kurdish community that were like just visiting Tehran and that's what happened. And then all the uprising started from the marginalized groups surrounding Iran...between all the ethnic minorities and started going to other regions of Iran. These stories, these uprisings and this new revolution can tell us the multilayered story of Iran, that a lot of America does not know. What the public can understand: hearing these stories, sharing them, supporting them, because there is a lot of resources in the United States, a lot of medias. The world is hearing the voice of United States, so using these opportunities and giving voice to those marginalized groups in Iran and hearing their stories.<br /><br /></p><div class="article-body fs-article fs-responsive-text current-article" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 30px; max-width: 42em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Asare:</span> Sevil, what do you think people misunderstand about Persian culture? Since the murder of Mahsa Amini occurred and the uprisings began, have you heard or seen any misinformation or misunderstandings of Iran, the Iranian people or Persian culture?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Suleymani</span>: Unfortunately, we always in the United States have misperceptions [about] Iran. I mean hearing me, I can speak Turkish...they are so surprised. ‘How you can be from Iran and speak Turkish?’ Because almost up to 40% of Iran are Turks, are non-Persians, and besides that, a lot of other minorities are living in Iran and Kurds are one of them, <a aria-label="Balochis" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/baloch" href="https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/baloch" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/baloch">Balochis</a> or other cultures. In the United States, we don't have that perception...we don't have the diverse culture of Iran.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">When we talk about Iran, first [thought is] Muslim country. ‘Oh, you're Muslim, so you choose hijab.’ No, we didn't choose hijab. Hijab is not part of that culture. This is a compulsory hijab. Compulsory hijab has nothing to do with Islam or being a Muslim. It comes from state policy. As culturally Muslim, I don't choose to wear hijab. I don't see it's part of my identity, so saying no to compulsory hijab, it doesn't mean I'm saying no to my religion or I'm saying no to Islam. So that's why associating hijab with just Islamic culture is just such a wrong perception. Misperception of that religion, misperception of that culture, and also a lot of women who are fighting against this compulsory state policy.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Asare</span>: So, you study social movements. What do you hope will be the result of the movement that's happening right now in Iran? What is an ideal situation for the movement?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Suleymani:</span> My master’s thesis was about Azerbaijani women in Iran, their agency, empowerment and oppression, so what I realized looking at Western media, even a lot of people from Iran, what they don't pay attention to is the actual agency that women have, especially marginalized women. When I was studying that I met a lot of local women. They have their own businesses, they are fighting, they have their own perception of feminism and women's rights, and they are fighting for that.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">What in this revolution surprised a lot of people...the world started realizing this agency, agency of those women...and empowerment from the oppression they faced for years. I'm not sure still because the Iranian state is strong. It's difficult to say this revolution will throw out that state, but I'm pretty sure it will weaken them. However, even if the state stays in power after that with this revolution, these movements have been seen as a potential that a lot of organizations, a lot of non-state actors and other state actors will see these women as agents of change...that they need to be taken seriously. This will play a role in decision makings that will be about Iran in a lot of national and international organizations, and that is the big revolution and the big change for Iranian women and their request from world.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Asare:</span> Is there anything else you think is important for the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Forbes</em> readers to know?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Suleymani:</span> It's important to hear what Iranian women say. Our understanding and perception, sometimes is not correct and based on certain stigma and the stereotypes. [Iran] has a diverse culture. We need to hear those stories and how those local groups have their own movements and their own needs. I've been studying Azerbaijani women for years and I know what they want and what their oppression is based on, the linguistic discrimination, based on the religious or cultural discriminations. It's not the same with a lot of Tehran, Persian or other groups. We need to hear those voices. We need to understand their unique needs and their requests. Being a Muslim, it doesn't mean all the Muslims countries, that more than 15 or 16 countries in the world, are asking or they have same culture and they have same requests. It's important to hear their voice instead of us judging or evaluating their culture based on our misperceptions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity</em>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2022/11/08/a-story-of-power-oppression-and-resistance-how-iranian-women-are-leading-a-revolution/?sh=2a59c47e51a2" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2022/11/08/a-story-of-power-oppression-and-resistance-how-iranian-women-are-leading-a-revolution/?sh=2a59c47e51a2</a> </span></span></p><div class="newsletter_signup_article" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; min-width: 100%;"></div></div><div class="sigfile article-body fs-responsive-text" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; line-height: 30px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Follow me on </span><a href="https://www.twitter.com/drjanicegassam" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/janicegassamphd/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; 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font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; line-height: 30px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div><div class="sigfile article-body fs-responsive-text" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; line-height: 30px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px;"><a class="fs-author-avatar" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: flex; float: left; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 17.6087px; font-style: normal; height: 44px; margin: auto 12px auto 0px; max-width: 44px; min-width: 44px; position: relative; width: 44px;" title="Photo of Janice Gassam Asare"><img alt="Janice Gassam Asare" class="fs-author-image" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/604035c2004cf58fcb413b67/400x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=1080&cropY1=0&cropY2=1080" style="border-radius: 50%; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; min-width: 44px; overflow: hidden; width: auto;" /></a></p></div><p></p><div class="author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 600; line-height: 16px; width: 472.125px;"><a class="author-name contrib-byline-author speakable-author" data-ga-track="contrib block byline" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Janice Gassam Asare<br /><br /></a></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="sigfile article-body fs-responsive-text" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; line-height: 30px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div>I founded an award-winning consultancy, <a class="color-link" href="https://www.bwgbusinesssolutions.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.bwgbusinesssolutions.com/">BWG Business Solutions</a>, where I provide guidance and education for companies and institutions looking to foster anti-racist and anti-oppressive environments. In 2022, I was named a LinkedIn <a class="color-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-voices-racial-equity-10-creators-follow-fairchild/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-voices-racial-equity-10-creators-follow-fairchild/">Top Voice in Racial Equity</a> and I curate a weekly <a class="color-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-pink-elephant-newsletter-6761846236518641664" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-pink-elephant-newsletter-6761846236518641664">newsletter</a> on LinkedIn called "The Pink Elephant", which has amassed over 20,000 subscribers. I am the author of two best-selling books <a class="color-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Diversity-Practical-Equitable-Inclusive/dp/0578697165/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Diversity-Practical-Equitable-Inclusive/dp/0578697165/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Dirty Diversity</em></a> and <a class="color-link" href="https://www.drjanicegassam.com/shop-1" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.drjanicegassam.com/shop-1"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Pink Elephant</em></a>. In 2017, I was selected to give a <a class="color-link" href="https://www.ted.com/talks/janice_gassam_make_emotional_intelligence_great_again_why_emotional_intelligence_will_change_the_world" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.ted.com/talks/janice_gassam_make_emotional_intelligence_great_again_why_emotional_intelligence_will_change_the_world">TEDx talk</a> on emotional intelligence and how it is impacted by technology. I host the Dirty Diversity <a class="color-link" href="https://www.drjanicegassam.com/podcast-1" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank" title="https://www.drjanicegassam.com/podcast-1">podcast</a>, which is focused on all things DEI. I have a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and I am a professor, teaching courses in human resource management and workplace equity. I spend my free time getting lost in a good audiobook, lifting heavy in the gym, and perfecting my Jollof rice recipe.<p></p><p></p></div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-67330485398978523322022-05-23T09:46:00.002-07:002023-04-30T13:04:09.678-07:00Vahid Qarabağlı: Iran does not allow Turkish language to enter official institutions<p>May 23, 2022 - <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/author/%C9%99lirza-quluncu/iytmr" target="_blank">Əlirza Quluncu</a> (<a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" target="_blank">Alirza Quluncu</a>)<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/04/vahid-qarabagl-iran-does-not-allow_30.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_fkjqNkIwkfwS_hZPea3PLA-ynAhOB8CFr1FQyEqi2OqTGDj6gGKc4XVn-bmC2iYxWvdt69y3_IzJ166vr27_2I8xNqNCcZgOgHROo57gcOgifkaau6cJ6IYzCw_QWFq9eGhwUCHKjm2Co7HWMQJP2uLU2AgZL1he7UkgtpcjTyTVKV2BYldSwka/s320/Vahid_Qarabagli.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/04/vahid-qarabagl-iran-does-not-allow_30.html" rel="nofollow">Vahid Qarabağlı</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br />Sociologist <a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/27" target="_blank">Vahid Qarabağlı</a> evaluates the restrictions and prohibitions on non-Persian languages in Iran from a sociolinguistic perspective in a conversation with Voice of America. According to him, by preventing Turkish language from entering official institutions, the Iranian state delegitimizes it.</span><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">"A sociolinguistic approach to language sees it as a social phenomenon. That is, the place of language in society, its influence on society and the influence it receives from society are studied. Language affects our relationships, thoughts and our relationship with institutions in the society we live in. Our language is influenced by these institutions, including television and government institutions," says Qarabağlı. <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="144" scrolling="no" src="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/embed/player/0/6584195.html?type=audio" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br />According to him, sociolinguistics also considers how language is used among different social classes, the relationship between language and gender, as well as the place of the language of different ethnic groups in society, the education system, and the media.<br /><br />The sociologist believes that the best way to understand the language issue in Iran is through a critical sociolinguistic approach: "In a critical sociolinguistic approach, the function of languages in institutions and the relationship between language and power are examined."<br /><br />According to Vahid Qarabağlı, people's view of different languages spoken in a society is determined by power relations.<br /><br />"According to critical sociolinguistics, people's attitudes towards different languages are not natural, but rather created by societal and political decisions, as well as power relationships. For example, in Iran, the decision for Persian to be the only official language, the sole language of education, and for national identity to be defined based on the Persian language, was made by a certain elite group during Iran's state-building process. This process could have been different, and a multilingual system could have been created in Iran. In critical sociolinguistics, these institutions, perspectives, and public, political, and ideological decisions are examined and criticized. According to this approach, these definitions are determined at the expense of certain groups and the marginalization of other groups. As a result of these decisions, other languages are delegitimized and put in a minority language situation."<br /><br />The sociologist believes that language activism is mainly about fighting for the legitimization and institutionalization of a language.<br /><br />"In the Iranian constitution, only the Persian language is legitimized and institutionalized as the language of the country's official institutions, education, media, and judiciary. In Iran, the language of all institutions is only Persian. The Turkish language is relegated to the level of a conversational language among people and has no place in institutions. As far as importance and role are concerned, the Turkish language is delegitimized."<br /><br />Qarabagli adds, "language activism, which is the struggle for the language concerns of marginalized groups, is actually a struggle to legitimize their languages. They attach great importance to the institutionalization of their languages. For example, they want the children of families living in Azerbaijan to see the Turkish language on television. If a Turkish child does not see his or her mother tongue within that system when he or she goes to school, the value of that language is not perceived in his or her eyes. But if that language is introduced as a language of instruction in schools, it will be seen as a legitimate language in the eyes of that child and his or her family. If films and TV series are made in that language and people go to cinemas to watch them, that language gains legitimacy and weight. Therefore, Turkish activists try to show that the Turkish language is part of public life by writing in their own language, publishing books, and making films in that language."<br /><br />Original link to the interview: <br /></span><span></span></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/6584197.html" target="_blank">https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/6584197.html </a></span><p></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-55707088358835573022022-05-21T00:20:00.000-07:002024-03-28T00:37:03.139-07:00Decolonizing Minds: Knowing the Unknown Space Known as Iran<p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">September 22, 2015 - </span><a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/author/%C9%99lirza-quluncu/iytmr" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Əlirza Quluncu</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"> (</span><a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Alirza Quluncu</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">)<br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/decolonizing-minds-knowing-unknown.html" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2t-PqTs5llC5u9ibifnnc-ctKB05hmVcJGWtB2L8tAtFQVdIci_SvauLzigN6r4AX_0SsFu0we6BWUTMsLDc20FacAdX9Hqgof3cBo0ZtyUIW5LpV2DpEWqDTxbQvuV5nmG2a5x3u7e-Qat86dY_1dwLEnTPsJU4NuUYkPm4fNY23IsRj6LVRsU5Ydg/w400-h225/Dr.%20Sultan-Qurraie.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2024/03/decolonizing-minds-knowing-unknown.html" rel="nofollow"><br />Dr. Hadi Sultan-Qurraie</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Literary scholar Hadi Sultan Qurrayi discussed his book published in English on the policy of Persianization in Iran during an <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/hadi-sultan-qurraie/2973548.html" target="_blank">interview</a> with Voice of America. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Decolonizing-Minds-Knowing-Space-Known/dp/150080424X" target="_blank">Decolonizing Minds: Knowing the Unknown Space Known as Iran</a></i>, authored by Dr. Hadi Sultan-Qurraie, a comparative literature professor at the University of Washington, examines the symbolism propagated in Iranian media and educational systems under the Persianization policy.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="144" scrolling="no" src="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/embed/player/0/2974245.html?type=audio" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br />Dr. Sultan-Qurraie elaborated on the identity politics pursued, especially during the Pahlavi regime in Iran. He expressed his own exposure to and belief in these ideologies during those years: <br /><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span>"I am a case in point. We were taught in such a phase that, at that time, they had begun Persianizing Iran. That is the Pahlavi government, or even since the Constitutional period, there has been a policy to Persianize the country. However, there are many nationalities in this country. There are no such statistics in Iran to tell how many individuals belong to which nationality. But I, as a Turk myself, have travelled all over Iran and have seen Turks there. Turks themselves are a majority."<br /><br />According to Sultan Qurrayi, colonization in Iran begins with the denial and marginalization of identities.<br /><p></p><p>"Colonization starts from here. By denying someone's freedom and identity, they marginalize and then a separate power takes it away through radio and TV and Persianizes it, or in North Azerbaijan they Russify it...," he said.</p><p>Speaking about the importance of books written on "decolonizing minds," the scholar highlights that after reading books by African scholars, he realized that he had been colonized without even knowing it.</p><p>"I am not the same person I was 40 years ago now... After reading what African authors have written on this topic, I understood that I have been colonized; I had no idea about myself."</p><p>He mentions the famous work of Kenyan author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong'o" target="_blank">Ngugi wa Thiong'o</a>, "<a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Decolonising-Mind-Politics-Language-Literature/dp/0852555016" target="_blank">Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature</a>," as one of the influential books he read.</p><p>Assessing the policy of colonial powers on languages, the scholar says, "Colonizers, to colonize Africa, first put their languages in place and then change the minds on that basis... Now they come to us and say, 'You don't know, your language is Persian. ' Or they divide the Turkish language into various dialects, like the politics of divide and rule."</p><p>In his book, Sultan Qurrayi explains both Iran's indirect colonization by other powers and its colonization policy towards non-Persian communities.</p><p>In his published book, the American university professor evaluates the use of symbols in Iranian literary history and understanding of history in the direction of Persianization policy.</p><p>The book extensively discusses various topics, such as the Aryan myth, the poet Ferdowsi as a symbol of Iranian nationalism, and the Cyrus Cylinder, to illustrate how they have been utilized in the country's identity politics.</p><p>As a literary scholar working as a university professor in America, he also points out the portrayal of Persian as a more beautiful and "sweet" language compared to other languages in Iranian society. He also highlights the ignorance and lack of knowledge about non-Persian cultures in Iranian society, emphasizing that the Iranian population must be informed about other cultures.<br /><br />Link to the interview: <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/hadi-sultan-qurraie/2973548.html" target="_blank">https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/hadi-sultan-qurraie/2973548.html </a></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-19650657155272698272022-05-20T11:34:00.005-07:002023-05-01T18:41:14.884-07:00The Politics of Iran's 'Forbidden Names'<li class="links__item" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222f3a; display: block; font-family: Merriweather-Light, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/rikar-hussein/bgi_v" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Rikar Hussein">Rikar Hussein</a>, <a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/aziza-goyushzade/m_ivo" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Aziza Goyushzade">Aziza Goyushzade</a>, <a class="links__item-link" href="https://www.voanews.com/author/alirza-quluncu/pomvt" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3a79b7; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" title="Alirza Quluncu">Alirza Quluncu</a> - <a href="https://www.voanews.com/z/5422" target="_blank">VOA NEWS ON IRAN</a> - <span style="color: #a1aab4;">May 19, 2022<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/the-politics-of-iran-s-forbidden-names-/6580642.html " imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVCPvpdUikUK17pAmV6ej7s3ZrQirbHATCK83B55UeqtVudIyxwpHvEu9SLt23BI2cqU1Kd_VP_11w35f7-TW-JYKb67xr7lG_TwnrtWiqbtovVT6fqZnOfObQqxCXjci0mxzp9mxi8NFxt9wtQxdcT3XaJkdkeynPMZxX0YzEdggYwVryCgRki0O/w458-h258/Documentary%20Poster_My%20Name.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">On February 14, the Marand High Court in Iran's northern province of East Azerbaijan ruled that a newborn boy could not be named "Türkay" — a word meaning "Turkish moon" in Turkish.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">His parents, disturbed but not surprised by the decision, decided to fight back. Following more than two months of legal battles, the East Azerbaijan Appellate Court in late April decided that the name was not actually on the list of "banned names," and the family could use it for their son.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">It was a rare win for ethnic minority families in Iran who have long been frustrated by the government's refusal to allow them to name their children as they wish.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"Finally, another Turk got his ID card," tweeted family lawyer Sina Yousefi in Tabriz alongside the picture of the court decision.<br /><br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div class="clear" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="wsw__embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><div class="infgraphicsAttach" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 649.771px;"><div class="twitterSnippetProcessed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1518329419676409863" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOlsibGlua3RyLmVlIiwidHIuZWUiLCJ0ZXJyYS5jb20uYnIiLCJ3d3cubGlua3RyLmVlIiwid3d3LnRyLmVlIiwid3d3LnRlcnJhLmNvbS5iciJdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdGltZWxpbmVfMTIwMzQiOnsiYnVja2V0IjoidHJlYXRtZW50IiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9lZGl0X2JhY2tlbmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3JlZnNyY19zZXNzaW9uIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19jaGluX3BpbGxzXzE0NzQxIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6ImNvbG9yX2ljb25zIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9yZXN1bHRfbWlncmF0aW9uXzEzOTc5Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InR3ZWV0X3Jlc3VsdCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0Zndfc2Vuc2l0aXZlX21lZGlhX2ludGVyc3RpdGlhbF8xMzk2MyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJpbnRlcnN0aXRpYWwiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2V4cGVyaW1lbnRzX2Nvb2tpZV9leHBpcmF0aW9uIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6MTIwOTYwMCwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0Zndfc2hvd19ibHVlX3ZlcmlmaWVkX2JhZGdlIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9lZGl0X2Zyb250ZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1518329419676409863&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.voanews.com%2Fa%2Fthe-politics-of-iran-s-forbidden-names-%2F6580642.html&sessionId=b1efee35b1683abd9c39d36ca13bf802c7520c84&siteScreenName=voanews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=a3525f077c700%3A1667415560940&width=550px" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 873px; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"Azerbaijan people have to go through a tough process of court and judicial procedure to choose their picked name for their child, but they will never give up their civil rights," he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the government has forced families to pick from among the approved names for their children, which critics say is part of a campaign by the country's rulers to enforce their cultural and religious preferences on all Iranians.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Authorities argue that unapproved names could sow ethnic divisions in the country by highlighting differences. But critics say it's a heavy-handed attempt at social engineering that mainly hurts minority groups.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">'Forbidden' names</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Legal advocates say most families who petition for permission for their preferred name lose in court.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In interviews with VOA, several parents explained how they had to give up their names for their children after they were labeled by local authorities as foreign, un-Islamic, or appealing to ethnic nationalism.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The restrictions have made it common for many Iranians to have two names — one used on legal documents and another by family and friends.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Iran's civil registration law classifies as "forbidden" any name that "insults the Islamic sanctity, as well as choosing titles which are obscene, offensive, or inappropriate." The law empowers the High Council of Civil Registry to decide which names are allowed and which are not.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In 2015, a senior official in the department suggested authorities are even more restrictive than what the law specifies. Assadollah Parsamehr, the Civil Registry's deputy of identity documents, said his office approved names "related to" Iranian and Islamic culture but rejected "foreign names belonging to foreign cultures."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">According to Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, the restrictions on names are a part of a yearslong "social engineering" campaign by Iran's leaders.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"The Islamic Republic officials have for 43 years sought to impose their preferred way of life, which includes what people should call their children, how they should dress and what sort of values they should hold," Vatanka told VOA.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">He charged that Iran's rulers in the 1980s issued similar restrictions on common Persian pre-Islamic names such as Cyrus and Ardashir, leading some authorities to change their own surnames, apparently for political gains.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"If you want to go the other way, that is, if you want to change your Persian name into an Islamic name, that is totally fine. Most famously, (former president) Hasan Rouhani, who wasn't born Rouhani but Fereydoun, changed his surname because it did not sound Islamic."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Social engineering</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Minority groups allege that Iranian nationalists in the office use their position to maintain the cultural dominance of Persians in Iran, manipulating decisions to punish minority groups, even when the names they select do not violate the law.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Wrya Mamle, a Kurdish activist and writer from northwest Iran's Mahabad, now a refugee in Norway, said he felt the impact of this law when he applied to register his daughter's name, Hana, which is popular among many cultures. The name means "turn to" or "approach" in Kurdish.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"They said they couldn't accept that because it was a foreign name," Mamle said. "I told them, 'No, it is Kurdish.' After that, they took out a document of about 100 pages containing names that were considered acceptable. They told me Hana is not on the list and therefore, cannot be used."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Farhad Javadi, author of a 2001 book on Turkish names, said although he advises people that there is no law preventing them from picking their preferred Turkish names, the bureaucracy still ends up thwarting them.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"They [Iranian authorities] create conditions for a person to go back and forth for a few days and then get tired and say, 'We will just choose any name.'"</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Not having a legally approved name can have dire consequences for some families.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Taymaz Mehralibeyli from the city of Julfa said he has not been able to get medical insurance for his 3-year-old son since last year. He said authorities refused to issue his son an identity card because he insisted on naming him Huntay — meaning "resembling the Huns."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Huns are ancient nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">"We had to pay out of pocket for all of the child's drugs and other medical expenses," Mehralibeyli said, adding that he was still hopeful that Iranian registry authorities will one day accept the name.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Salah Piroty and Bafraw Noori contributed to this report.<br /><br />Original link: https://www.voanews.com/a/the-politics-of-iran-s-forbidden-names-/6580642.html </em></p></li>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-65736759359626423622022-04-19T22:30:00.000-07:002023-06-23T22:35:32.028-07:00Reza Baraheni, Writer, Poet, Literary Critic, and Public Intellectual: A Life-long Champion of Social Justice and Freedom of Speech<p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/27" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; display: inline; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: -8px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Vahid Qarabagli</a> - <span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.4px;">April 19, 2022</span></p><div class="row" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px -15px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2023/06/reza-baraheni-writer-poet-literary.html" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1024" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FAZtU7e3eiL37owEXoknUH5pxeBHzQ8oGKS62rSEtqOacCTfxog7qUOB1gToeqXBizEHCkFrYJxQE4vIpV45mJntfJ2DsbPhI0CBK_y8FiGYQhz5zljHiih_iPN2QVR3q6ZFa5BEl1Trjr3LW0h7mb7s51GTCL8dAb7AKfEUsmv177uv3dz_9GDB8gY/w400-h272/Reza-Baraheni.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="col-md-10 mx-auto" style="box-sizing: inherit; flex: 0 0 83.3333%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 83.3333%; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; width: 814.802px;"><br /><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Reza Baraheni was one of Iran’s most important literary figures of the 20th and 21st centuries. Polymath novelist, essayist, translator, and public intellectual he was notably considered the “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1977/09/04/baraheni-an-angry-voice-from-iran/6f270d88-a9c9-4ca6-8f8e-c6f2f1d3ad55/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">founder of modern literary criticism in Iran</a>”, and was rated “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/93_folder/93_articles/93_news_baraheni.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Iran’s finest living poet</a>” in 1977 by Harper’s Magazine. His works have been translated into English, French, Turkish and other languages. Well known as a prominent advocate of freedom of speech, democracy, and minority rights in Iran, he died on March 24, 2022 in Toronto, Canada, where he had lived in exile with his family since 1997. He was 86.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Early Life</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Reza Baraheni was born in 1935 into a poor family in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province of Iran. Although an Azerbaijani Turk, he wrote mostly in Farsi (plus later in English). This was because, since the 1920s the Pahlavi regime had declared Farsi to be Iran’s only official language. Minoritized languages including Azerbaijani Turkish, were banned or discouraged. One brief exception was in 1945-46 during which Iranian Azerbaijan, as a self-proclaimed <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_People%27s_Government" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">autonomous republic</a>, switched education to the local lingua franca. During this period the ten-year-old Reza wrote his first poems in Azerbaijani Turkish. However, once the autonomous government had been overthrown, Farsi was reinstituted as the only language of school instruction. Young <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/1998Summer_vol7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Baraheni</a>, apparently unaware of the reverted language policy, wrote a composition in Turkish and took it to school. The reaction would last with him forever: “When I … hung it on the wall, I was forced by the school authorities… to lick the ink off the surface of the paper in front of all the teachers and the students. I swallowed my mother tongue. I never forgot the humiliation.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">To make matters worse, the school teachers enforcing this incomprehensible rule shared the same mother tongue. He later <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/1998Summer_vol7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">wrote</a>: “Your mother tongue becomes a criminal conspiracy against the great official culture of state. If you write anything in your own language, you automatically become a separatist and a traitor to the sovereignty of that state. So even in your childhood and youth in your own city you begin to live in exile, and you are told to hate your mother tongue.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Baraheni initially sidestepped the language issue by writing in Farsi and studying English Literature, first at Tabriz University, then in Istanbul where his doctoral dissertation focused on Alfred Lord Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, Algernon Swinburne, and Edward FitzGerald. Equipped with modern literary theories and a critical ability, he returned to Iran in 1961 to teach English literature at Tehran University. In addition to lecturing, Dr. Baraheni published numerous writings on poetry, story writing and literary criticism in Ferdowsi Magazine. Many were later turned into books. An important early example was "Gold in Copper" (1968), a historical study of Persian poetry.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Return to controversy</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">During the 1960s, Baraheni was a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://hslanguages.ucla.edu/israel/event/5556" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">founding member</a> of the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA), an organization associated with <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://pen-international.org/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">PEN International</a> to promote and defend the rights of writers in Iran. He courted controversy with “The Infernal Days of Mr. Ayaz" (1972), a historical novel whose criticism of the social and political reality of its time led to its being banned by the Shah's censorship apparatus. Un-intimidated, a year later Baraheni published “Masculine History: The Dominant Culture and the Subjugated Culture” which critically discussed oppression against women and minoritized ethnic groups in Iran. That book was also banned, three months after its release and would lead to his arrest after returning from a year-long teaching position in the United States. Tortured by SAVAK (the Shah’s secret police) he was held in solitary confinement for 102 days, but eventually released following international campaigns.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Returning to the United States he taught at various universities, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/reza-baraheni/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">published articles</a> on human rights and gave <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Human_Rights_in_Iran/lhatY12Iq0gC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22I+think+it+is+their+constitutional+right+to+have+their+cultural+autonomy%22&pg=PA61&printsec=frontcover" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">testimony</a> about <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/21/archives/torture-in-iran-it-is-a-hell-made-by-one-man-for-another-man.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">his own first-hand</a> experiences of human rights abuses in Iran. Important works from this period included “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0253132185/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">God's Shadow: Prison Poems</a>” (1976) and “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/17/archives/publishing-human-rights.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The Crowned Cannibals: Writings on Repression in Iran</a>” (1977), a non-fiction work in English which narrates the story of his imprisonment and torture and the bigger issue of the Shah’s ideologies including language marginalization.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This brought Dr. Baraheni the first of what would prove numerous awards for his literary and human rights activities, including the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Press_Club" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Overseas Press Club of America’s</a> Madeline Dane Ross Award (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://opcofamerica.org/opc-awards-contest-rules/archive-award/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">1977</a>), “for international reporting in any medium which demonstrates a concern for humanity”.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">After the Revolution</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In 1979, following the departure of Shah from Iran, Baraheni gave up a fully tenured professorship at the University of Maryland to return to his homeland. Like many exiled Iranian dissidents he was full of hopes and expectations for the post-revolution era. However, he soon found himself struggling against the new regime’s own brand of tyranny which, he soon found, was “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/1998Summer_vol7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">worse</a>” for him than the previous one.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An outspoken public intellectual, critical of the new regime’s suppression and censorship, Baraheni was arrested in 1981 and again in 1982. He was also <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00kuni_0/page/n9/mode/2up" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">expelled</a> from the University of Tehran for “signing a statement on democracy”. Nonetheless, despite being thus “forced into <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/1998Summer_vol7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">exile</a> in [his] own home”, Baraheni remained in the new Iran for nearly two decades. Important works from this era include “The Song of the Murdered” (1983), a novel that narrates the intellectual and political struggle and repression in the last years of the Shah’s regime; “Alchemy and Clay” (1985), a critique of then-contemporary Iranian poetry; and "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/mysteries-of-my-land/9781988254937-item.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Mysteries of My Land</a>" (1987), a historical novel on socio-political changes in pre-revolutionary Iran from the 1940s onwards. Famously he also held underground literary workshops in the basement of his Tehran apartment. These played an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-60874016" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">important role</a> in the emergence of a new generation of writers and poets in the post-revolutionary era who based their writings on modern, postmodern, and feminist literature. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By this point Reza Baraheni was regarded as the most prominent representative of post-structuralism and postmodern literature in Iran. In this regard “Addressing Butterflies and Why Am I No Longer a Nima'i Poet?" (1995), is his most influential book and was considered groundbreaking in transforming the form of Persian poetry. However, by the mid-1990s, serious <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://pencanada.ca/news/in-memoriam-reza-baraheni/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">threats</a> to his life meant he felt it impossible to remain in Iran any longer. In 1996, he escaped with his family to Sweden, and from there came to Toronto, Canada in 1997.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">He would become <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://complit.utoronto.ca/faculty/publications/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Professor Emeritus</a> of Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto, and president of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2022/04/02/a-tribute-to-reza-baraheni-irans-finest-living-poet.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">PEN Canada</a> from 2001 to 2003 while winning many major prizes<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/reza-baraheni-writer-poet-literary-critic-and-public-intellectual-a-life-long-champion-of-social-justice-and-freedom-of-speech#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Legacy</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mourning his recent passing, the Writers’ Association of Iran, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.akhbar-rooz.com/147350/1401/01/06/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">described</a> Baraheni as an "independent and libertarian writer.” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://pencanada.ca/news/in-memoriam-reza-baraheni/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">PEN Canada</a> remembered him as “A ferocious human rights activist and a valiant warrior for freedom of speech”. PEN South Azerbaijan (Iran) in Exile <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.pensouthazerbaijan.org/2022/03/blog-post_94.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">commemorated</a> him as a “fearless and confident human being” who “expressed his opinions and thoughts explicitly and recklessly, without thinking about its consequences.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">As a public intellectual and writer, he never ceased to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://zamaaneh.com/canada/2010/03/post_199.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">champion</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://shahrvand.com/archives/4228" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">advocate</a> for the rights of minoritized communities in Iran. Back in 1976, when <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Human_Rights_in_Iran/lhatY12Iq0gC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22for+the+Turkish+people+of+Azerbaijan+in+Iran%22&printsec=frontcover" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">testifying</a> to a US Congress hearing on Iran’s human rights record he had said: “In my writings I’ve called for linguistic and cultural autonomy for the Turkish people of Iranian Azerbaijan because they have an identity of their own, they have a distinct culture that is Azerbaijani, their language is Turkish… I asked for autonomy for these people…. I think it is their constitutional right” adding importantly “I am after self-determination for my people, but this is not secession”.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Since his school days he felt that he had been in linguistic “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/1998Summer_vol7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">exile</a>,” always with the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cbh-j1Vg8w-/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">hope</a> of being “in Tabriz on the day that the Turkish language is freed and everyone starts learning Turkish” so that he could see young students “sit in first grade to start learning.” However, he never lived to see the dream fulfilled. As yet many of the same restrictions still remain on Iran’s minoritised languages. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Baraheni is survived by his wife, Sanaz Sehhati; daughter, Aleca; and three sons, Oktay, Arsalan, and Esfandiar. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.minimafilms.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Arsalan Baraheni</a> is now himself an experienced film-maker who has produced the documentary "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEbORYXGNG8" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Alchemy and Dust</a>" and other <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://vimeo.com/126564769" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">interviews</a> that help further cement his father’s legacy.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <hr size="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><div id="ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/reza-baraheni-writer-poet-literary-critic-and-public-intellectual-a-life-long-champion-of-social-justice-and-freedom-of-speech#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a> EG the University of Toronto Scholars at Risk Program Award (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.masseycollege.ca/scholars-at-risk/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">1999</a>); Human Rights Award of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.sources.com/Releases/NEPMCC06-Awards.htm" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">2006</a>); Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144mp_/https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/126-212647" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">2012</a>).</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p></div></div><div class="share-block" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 22px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">SHARE:</span><button data-sharer="facebook" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/reza-baraheni-writer-poet-literary-critic-and-public-intellectual-a-life-long-champion-of-social-justice-and-freedom-of-speech" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144im_/https://caspianpost.com/img/fb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 8px;" /></button><button data-sharer="twitter" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/reza-baraheni-writer-poet-literary-critic-and-public-intellectual-a-life-long-champion-of-social-justice-and-freedom-of-speech" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20220930004144im_/https://caspianpost.com/img/twit.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 18px;" /></button></div><div class="tags-block" style="align-items: flex-start; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">TAGS:</span><div class="tag-group" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TABRIZ, IRAN, CANADA</div></div></div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-39226850239808839092022-01-31T11:18:00.000-08:002023-06-23T22:37:06.660-07:00The Troubled Story of the Tabriz Ark –Are There Deeper Meanings Behind Archaeological Insensitivity?<p> <a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/27" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; display: inline; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: -8px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Vahid Qarabagli</a> - <span face="sf-med" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #aeb5b7; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.4px;">January 31, 2022</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaknyZ9hupb6ZA9C_HiZwVgJFgfuLTWFKhkw9Iq5SZNN45JtXuqBmab8c0tBPX55-f0oyFSTcwzLo_PVU2Wy9g6R-0ASGkwBvYMWcC8dN4AYuF77TDRoYVSvVEgUKaFqgKj5mFPsDf3DxaPbllEYO3N5EOdlSjqH5qI52JHs8SKglUbW-eirXAWPz/s5184/Ark_Tabriz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaknyZ9hupb6ZA9C_HiZwVgJFgfuLTWFKhkw9Iq5SZNN45JtXuqBmab8c0tBPX55-f0oyFSTcwzLo_PVU2Wy9g6R-0ASGkwBvYMWcC8dN4AYuF77TDRoYVSvVEgUKaFqgKj5mFPsDf3DxaPbllEYO3N5EOdlSjqH5qI52JHs8SKglUbW-eirXAWPz/w400-h267/Ark_Tabriz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">Tabriz is now Iran’s fifth-biggest city and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. However, it was once was a major trade town on the ancient Silk Road. The Venetian merchant traveller Marco Polo </span><a href="https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004262577/B9789004262577_013.xml" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">praised</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> its beauty and importance for commerce. Over the centuries, it has served as dynastic capital for the Ilkhanids, Aq Qoyunlu, Qara Qoyunlu, and Safavids. For parts of the Qajar period (1794-1925), it was the seat of the Crown Prince. It has always held a special place in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the country.</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">Not surprisingly, therefore, Tabriz is home to various historical monuments, including the fabulous UNESCO-listed </span><a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1346/" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Historic Bazaar</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">, the earthquake-fractured 1465 </span><a href="https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/iran/articles/the-story-behind-the-famous-blue-mosque-in-iran/" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Blue Mosque</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> and a gigantic brick structure in the downtown area known as the Ark. No, we’re not talking Noah. This ‘Ark’ (or ‘Arg’) is a kind of oversized fortress gateway that looks nothing quite like any other piece of medieval architecture you’ve ever seen.<br /><br /></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVhfCgkD2r0xo5S2YhjiYh-ETnypYK2R87EokF1Whq-ubAjKCvGyo4P4ZFeqIy7nI-ilkP_pl9fqVylgM-dJdviyHaGezdQBvkMrHTX-ZPOhGNnr3MknlzWI8IRfl_Pi9MqVrdeYf6Aj6Ii-Jf4c-OEux1jbyQq-700uF6y2pPtUKMtdKSKEnwCYN/s637/Erk_Tebriz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="637" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVhfCgkD2r0xo5S2YhjiYh-ETnypYK2R87EokF1Whq-ubAjKCvGyo4P4ZFeqIy7nI-ilkP_pl9fqVylgM-dJdviyHaGezdQBvkMrHTX-ZPOhGNnr3MknlzWI8IRfl_Pi9MqVrdeYf6Aj6Ii-Jf4c-OEux1jbyQq-700uF6y2pPtUKMtdKSKEnwCYN/w400-h225/Erk_Tebriz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">You’d be hard-pressed to describe the Ark as beautiful, but the powerful magnificence of its scale and the aloof timelessness of its presence have made it the <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/aliasghar-haghdar-erk-qalasi/3609727.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">subject</a> of many poems, stories, and songs by local people. Although a large part of the monument has been destroyed over the years, what remains has become a <a href="https://www.azadliq.org/a/1763950.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">symbol</a> of resilience against natural and human disasters, earthquakes and wars.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">A Long History</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Remarkably it seems that the Ark was originally conceived as an enormous mausoleum. A project of Tajeddin Alishah, vezir to the courts of Muhammad Khodabandeh and Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, construction started in 1318 but stalled in 1339. Though never completed and later modified and rebuilt, the result was a structure long regarded as one of the tallest<a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-troubled-story-of-the-tabriz-ark-are-there-deeper-meanings-behind-archaeological-insensitivity#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a> brick portals of the post-Mongol <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilkhanate" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Ilkhanate era</a>.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIqetQ4tHUxZHLjyUork0LUhmMlKGffPba9DoOON4GfBvlwPNfAURdauACp8JYDAskNIQzJOmij_StLIN3wHOz9WZOIGu8YbNOoNpi7oUtqgiMGg3Xr4PKvTHfCL7IjujazRIfyxVAigLYJD6HnqVowtEf_qZrHLCsQce97JOGILbJv8G_3-34wDN/s2072/Arg_e_Tabriz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1435" data-original-width="2072" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIqetQ4tHUxZHLjyUork0LUhmMlKGffPba9DoOON4GfBvlwPNfAURdauACp8JYDAskNIQzJOmij_StLIN3wHOz9WZOIGu8YbNOoNpi7oUtqgiMGg3Xr4PKvTHfCL7IjujazRIfyxVAigLYJD6HnqVowtEf_qZrHLCsQce97JOGILbJv8G_3-34wDN/w400-h278/Arg_e_Tabriz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Ark remained standing after the massive earthquake that ravaged Tabriz in 1721, though the associated Alishah Mosque nearby was essentially destroyed like most of the city. During the Qajar period, what had survived was reconstructed by Crown Prince <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Persian_Life_and_Customs/EupAAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Abbas+Mirza++Ark+Citadel&pg=PA64&printsec=frontcover" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Abbas Mirza</a> as a military station and ammunition store. Next to it a foundry was built to make cannons for the Qajar army in the Russo-Persian/Russo-Iranian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828. Enclosing walls were erected to protect the installation.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The resultant citadel later became the last stronghold of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Constitutional_Revolution" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">constitutionalist revolutionaries</a> led by those like Sattar Khan and Baqir Khan seeking rights and freedoms from the Qajar Shah, Muhammad Ali. In December 1911, Russian forces <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Hearst_s_International_Combined_with_Cos/pBEky6jitHMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Ark%22+%22Tabriz%22&pg=PA2436&printsec=frontcover" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">attacked</a> these constitutionalists with artillery fire, taking control of the city and leaving much of the Ark Citadel in charred ruins.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In 1920, all the military installations and perimeter walls added to the Ark during the early 19th century were demolished. In their place, the Lion and Sun Theater (aka Ark Theater) and a surrounding park were <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Culture-and-Cultural-Politics-Under-Reza-Shah-The-Pahlavi-State-New-Bourgeoisie/Devos-Werner/p/book/9780815361183" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">built</a> by Lieutenant General Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi, a military leader close to Reza Khan (later Reza Shah). This was to commemorate the ‘victory’ of the central government over <a href="https://www.trendyol.com/elli/azadistan-devleti-ve-seyh-muhammed-hiyabani-ali-azeri-elila-p-120456836" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Sheikh Muhammad Khiabani,</a> who had led a short-lived autonomous republic in Iranian Azerbaijan called Azadistan (“Land of Freedom”).</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What remained of the Ark was registered on the national list of monuments in 1931.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">The Ark of Tabriz after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran<br /></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0A_y_E2DOKc7ZbEnSRbpSMvbiTzg7DTyAx_5LQHEHlusz27uKuCH_g6CG3XDE73-UhRTYXbJk8ocKCUy-5IC-_EDYxrvT1RLkvZgBbBB3_r3YRPpCtikQIprdtGxnUd2CiYZh0DEF0pA1jiJMk8M1xw0Dhtyk9IDSjPci9_OcL1KzCOpWUQSfbQC2/s801/Ark_Tabriz_Musalla.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="801" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0A_y_E2DOKc7ZbEnSRbpSMvbiTzg7DTyAx_5LQHEHlusz27uKuCH_g6CG3XDE73-UhRTYXbJk8ocKCUy-5IC-_EDYxrvT1RLkvZgBbBB3_r3YRPpCtikQIprdtGxnUd2CiYZh0DEF0pA1jiJMk8M1xw0Dhtyk9IDSjPci9_OcL1KzCOpWUQSfbQC2/w400-h225/Ark_Tabriz_Musalla.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In 1980, just months after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Ark Theater, a popular and well-used hall for music, theatre and public speaking, was demolished to make space to construct a huge musalla (prayer hall) for Tabriz. The construction project began in 1999. The first phase was completed in <span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2008</span>, the second phase in 2019, and with an area of 75,000 square meters and a capacity of 60,000 people, it is the<a href="https://rasanews.ir/fa/news/269017/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"> largest</a> of its kind in the country.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The project was implemented despite considerable public hostility. Opponents <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/aliasghar-haghdar-erk-qalasi/3609727.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">argued</a> that the new building’s massive size and incompatible architectural features would detract from the historical character and atmosphere of the Ark, disrupting the visual spectacle by subordinating its visibility. A <a href="https://www.eskannews.com/report/34449" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">law</a> that should have limited any new construction to an area outside the perimeter of the listed historical site was ignored. Worse, the new musalla was built right on top of the site of the historic Alishah Mosque ruins, ignoring the clear <a href="https://www.eskannews.com/report/34449" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">need</a> for careful archeological interventions before construction. Even now, the troubled story of encroachment towards the Ark is not over.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In 2016, the Tabriz musalla management decided to build a parking lot for their complex within another part of the Ark’s historical site. Excavation work began, but this time protests proved more effective, and the project was <a href="https://www.isna.ir/news/95081812896/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">stopped</a> after a public outcry. <br /><br /></p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Neglect of the Historical Monuments of Azerbaijani Turks in Iran</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Ark’s sad story, destruction and lack of appreciation as a historical monument is just one of many cases in Iran. As in Tabriz and other parts of Iranian Azerbaijan, many other sites are in deplorable condition leading some people to <a href="http://ilgarnews.ir/?p=26767" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">mobilize</a> to raise public attention. Amongst the most important examples are the truly ancient carved monoliths at <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g13002323-d10210937-Reviews-Shahr_Yeri_Historical_Site-Meshgin_Shahr_Ardabil_Province.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Shahr Yeri</a> near Meshgin Shahr (Khiyav), the historic center of <a href="https://www.mehrnews.com/news/5391951" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Urmia</a>, Hakim Hidaji’s house in <a href="https://www.isna.ir/news/98012510130/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Zanjan</a>, and a whole series of castles, baths and Qajar-era houses in <a href="https://www.irna.ir/news/82950916/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Ardabil</a>. According to <a href="https://www.mehrnews.com/news/2871803/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Jalil Jabbari</a>, West Azerbaijan Province’s Director General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, the biggest problem is a lack of funds to help preservation and restoration.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, from the perspective of Azerbaijani Turk civil rights activists, the issue goes deeper and can be read as a form of <a href="https://www.azadliq.org/a/1763950.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">national discrimination</a>. Seen through this prism, a Persian-first ideology of “<a href="https://www.azadliq.org/a/1763950.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">one country, one nation, one language, and one history</a>” is blamed for the neglect of architectural monuments in non-Persian majority regions. In particular, the celebration of Seljuk, Ikhanid, Safavid and Qajar sites – remnants from dynasties that had Azerbaijani Turkic backgrounds – could be seen to work against the homogenization of a Persian-centric Iranian historical narrative.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This is sad. The preservation of historical sites and structures should be a multidimensional task. Their maintenance requires a sensitivity and ability to see multiple connections that transcend nationalist or nationalizing forces. Surely this is the case with the Tabriz Ark where Azerbaijani-Turks, members of a ‘minoritized group’ in Iran, <a href="https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/aliasghar-haghdar-erk-qalasi/3609727.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">perceive</a> the destruction and lack of appreciation of this historical monument as a rejection – an attack upon their history and thus their identity. Such sensitivities must be taken seriously if we hope to create an inclusive society where all people feel included and valued in Iran.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><div style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <hr size="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><div id="ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-troubled-story-of-the-tabriz-ark-are-there-deeper-meanings-behind-archaeological-insensitivity#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a> Some <a href="https://jarcs.ut.ac.ir/article_83467.html?lang=en" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">researchers now suggest</a> that the Ark’s massive gateway arch is probably a couple of centuries younger than the original Ilkhanid structure.</span></p></div></div><div class="share-block" style="align-items: center; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 22px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">SHARE:</span><button data-sharer="facebook" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-troubled-story-of-the-tabriz-ark-are-there-deeper-meanings-behind-archaeological-insensitivity" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/fb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 8px;" /></button><button data-sharer="twitter" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-troubled-story-of-the-tabriz-ark-are-there-deeper-meanings-behind-archaeological-insensitivity" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/twit.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 18px;" /></button></div><div class="tags-block" style="align-items: flex-start; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">TAGS:</span><div class="tag-group" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">IRAN, AZERBAIJAN, TABRIZ, UNESCO</div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-18740434032268899632021-12-10T13:25:00.018-08:002023-05-01T18:41:41.259-07:00The Influence of Turkish TV Series on Turks in South Azerbaijan and Iran<p><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-family: times; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.4px;"><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/27" target="_blank">Vahid Qarabagli</a> - The Caspian Post - December 07, 2021<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IjPi39hvv7gjXHAyn6kKfYW-w1dOa0OKZQcezpBHnomxFZ58eboaf88mMMtL2cJiOlFUyMmZzkamkIiEtnyDqovHI-noCOaNjyIoMXXGWKRvMijkyAjzr9TICSheVKRYqfsLYjlX9sM/s650/Turkish-Serials.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="650" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IjPi39hvv7gjXHAyn6kKfYW-w1dOa0OKZQcezpBHnomxFZ58eboaf88mMMtL2cJiOlFUyMmZzkamkIiEtnyDqovHI-noCOaNjyIoMXXGWKRvMijkyAjzr9TICSheVKRYqfsLYjlX9sM/w400-h289/Turkish-Serials.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">Amongst Turkey’s fastest-growing exports are its TV drama serials. Known as</span><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> </span><a href="http://ensani.ir/file/download/article/20161225114919-9541-96.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">televizyon dizileri</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> </span><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">or dizi for short, these are currently watched by an estimated</span><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> </span><a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-emergence-of-iranian-nationalism/9780231175760" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">700 million</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> </span><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">people in more than 146 countries, from Latin America to the Balkans, the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Worth barely US$100,000 in 2008, dizi-exports have exploded over the past decade and by 2020 were worth an annual $500 million. And that number is expected to double again by</span><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> </span><a href="https://www.mehrnews.com/news/5043990?v=OIFb43O__9A" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">2023</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">. Remarkably, Turkey is now the world’s second-largest exporter of TV drama after the US. <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">The theme of a dizi series might cover a gamut of themes from romance to action, history to comedy. Unlike many European or North American TV serials, each episode is typically as long as a full-length feature film (over two hours). Although originally designed to screen weekly, global streaming services such as <a href="https://tahran.yee.org.tr/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Netflix</a>, Amazon Prime and Hulu allow viewers to binge on a whole season at one – very long – sitting. </span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Turkey’s Soft Power</span></h3><p paraeid="{3c547b71-f732-4f58-a447-7dbf29e0986f}{136}" paraid="328225054" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Undoubtedly Turkey is aware that its TV productions are not only economically valuable. They also provide a valuable source of ‘soft power.’ Mainly produced in Istanbul, TV serials frequently use framing shots that showcase the city’s historical landmarks and impressive riverscapes. Tourist attractions, like the Hagia Sophia, Galata Tower and Topkapi Palace, feature prominently, while the Bosphorus bridges present spectacular viewpoints encompassing both sides of the giant metropolis. Through TV representations, Turkey’s historical, cultural and natural beauty is promoted subconsciously to a worldwide audience. Indeed, TV serials have reportedly played a significant role in attracting more tourists to Turkey, especially from <a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/tractor-sazi-fc-and-the-civil-rights-movement-of-turks-in-iranian-azerbaijan" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Arab countries</a>.<br /></span></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="2741" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3xpXtHNH1E3N5bw4SIi-h8UVpfTBg0WXFW4u1EUixLzSEHsE9wqTl-IHMzZmgfEq3jTqAq6QSyrUFS7ylmDpTL09TVhq649WZ3hfUB0zwoz3TNLvnrAU8QOHxmLz3EwH9rtoVBHMqPE/w400-h225/The+Maiden+Tower_K%25C4%25B1z+Kulesi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h5 paraeid="{3c547b71-f732-4f58-a447-7dbf29e0986f}{136}" paraid="328225054" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></h5><h5 paraeid="{3c547b71-f732-4f58-a447-7dbf29e0986f}{136}" paraid="328225054" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">The Maiden Tower, ‘Kiz Kulesi,” near Uskudar in Istanbul is an iconic image of Turkey that features often in Turkish serials. It’s one of the few structures left from Byzantium times. Image: Hakan Yasar/Shutterstock.</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Meanwhile, the unspoken assumptions underpinning depictions of Turkey as an affluent, well-functioning society challenge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_television_drama" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">negative representations</a> of the country in Hollywood and the Western media. The painfully negative stereotypes peddled most infamously by the 1978 movie Midnight Express (1978) are long gone. Instead, dizi serials promote modern Turkey’s political, ideological, economic, and cultural influences to regional and global audiences.</span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is understood at the highest levels. In 2016, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/turkish-dramas-captivate-hispanic-audiences/2259142" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">celebrated</a> the success of one particular Turkish TV series<a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a> by quoting an African proverb: ‘until the lions start writing their own stories, their hunters will always be the heroes.’</span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> “That’s why lions will continue to write their own stories,” said Erdogan, framing Turks as the lions and emphasizing the importance that Turkey attaches to television dramas as representations of the nation for both domestic and international consumption.</span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">The influence of Turkey’s TV Series on Iran</span></h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Iran is one country where Turkish television series enjoy particular popularity. That’s despite the fact that Iran does not officially allow private television or radio stations and that satellite receivers are technically <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">illegal</a>. In practice, however, satellite dishes are very commonly used, giving millions of Iranians access to non-governmental television and radio from all across the globe. In this way, many Iranians watch Persian language satellite services like GEM TV broadcast from the diaspora as well as foreign channels. Iranian platforms such as <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230604889" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Filimo</a> offer dubbed versions of foreign series with a suitable degree of self-censorship necessary to avoid Iranian government interference.<br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpU1_rAnFVacRQztKLoh_tjO0D-ew6UbyJuVuTEwmGQu2lGxQKcRcIPNOjSDoPCIlr0oRFZofKoxSg_9206T432eFrKKiwQuHpLTASaX0cMg8TKRyWQ4kaa0NfbM5uwCMSVaSVh42L7mY/s1000/Tabriz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="1000" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpU1_rAnFVacRQztKLoh_tjO0D-ew6UbyJuVuTEwmGQu2lGxQKcRcIPNOjSDoPCIlr0oRFZofKoxSg_9206T432eFrKKiwQuHpLTASaX0cMg8TKRyWQ4kaa0NfbM5uwCMSVaSVh42L7mY/w400-h171/Tabriz.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h5 paraeid="{5836742d-c990-4eec-85ad-5d24c0121e2d}{21}" paraid="1525631746" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></h5><h5 paraeid="{5836742d-c990-4eec-85ad-5d24c0121e2d}{21}" paraid="1525631746" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">Tabriz, the largest city in northwestern Iran, is one of the historical cities of Azerbaijan and the present capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Image: Wikimedia Commons</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Increasingly, Turkish TV shows are trending in Iran thanks to series like Binbir Gece (One Thousand and One Nights), Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), and Kara Sevda (Endless Love). They have attracted many viewers for their acting, production, and colourful features. For Iranians of any background, these TV shows are seen as high-quality entertainment products, something often <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137310873" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">lacking</a> on Iran’s official channels.</span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">To be clear, the Iranian government is aware that Turkish and other non-state television series have become very popular. From time to time, Iran’s semi-official news agencies such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/12/11/talking-turkey-orientalism-strikes-back" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Fars News</a> or <a href="https://www.sabah.com.tr/video/haber/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-dirilis-ertugrul-aslanlar-kendi-hikayelerini-yazmaya-devam-edecek-beyefendi-izleyememis" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Mehr News</a> publish articles that frame these TV shows as “culturally and morally subversive.” They are sometimes accused of poisoning Iran’s “authentic” national culture and harming “family values.” Government media outlets typically <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-ramping-up-investment-in-turkey-with-10-new-exhilarating-projects" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">perceive</a> the influence of Turkish channels as a threat, especially to the country’s sizeable Azerbaijani-Turk population. This group can generally understand modern Turkish due to the linguistic proximity of Turkey’s Turkish and Azerbaijani Turkish. Despite being the country’s second-largest ethnic group, and around <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/persian_letters_satellite_dishes_iran_police/24514665.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">30%</a> of its population, Iranian Azerbaijani-Turks have no media outlets that broadcast in their own language. Moreover, watching a Turkish television series in the original language version is possible without subtitles or dubbing into Farsi/Persian,<a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[2]</a> particularly useful for Iranian Azerbaijani-Turks with limited schooling. There are people born and raised in Iran whose Farsi is so poor, they can’t benefit from Iran’s national TV and radio programs.<br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvztcjVEW93XnlZtThoJpafCk2jf6VpA_phasdBb7sI-RQriuZV5lokETc8XIrUZHYreLW0kCUOKWpDF8nRcslOCmAKagNxXfCRhwWMxMcAMuCANBRG2plarKzRo5Bew1p2qT1uE8mC0A/s1002/Kazem_Gharib_Abadi_at_the_Mehr_News_Agency_HQ_2016-08-28_03.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="1002" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvztcjVEW93XnlZtThoJpafCk2jf6VpA_phasdBb7sI-RQriuZV5lokETc8XIrUZHYreLW0kCUOKWpDF8nRcslOCmAKagNxXfCRhwWMxMcAMuCANBRG2plarKzRo5Bew1p2qT1uE8mC0A/w400-h225/Kazem_Gharib_Abadi_at_the_Mehr_News_Agency_HQ_2016-08-28_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h5 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Image: Wikimedia Commons</div></h5><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In a 2018 interview, <a name="_Hlk88589305" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mohsen Latifi</a>, the director-general of Iran’s East Azerbaijan provincial radio and television, highlighted the unequal competition they had with Turkish TV channels:</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Turkish channels use common language and [feature] a lot of cultural elements that we have in common.”</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">According to Latifi, a study conducted by the research center in Tabriz on sympathy for Turkish TV channels revealed that more than 44% of the city’s population uses satellite dishes. Of those, 75% view the Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkish channels broadcast on TurkSat.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TV series from Turkey are important cultural and <a href="http://journals.police.ir/article_92965_dbb82ea3420aae702cbde0246389d28a.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">linguistic resources</a> for learning and promoting Turkic languages among the millions of Azerbaijani-Turks who reside not only in Iran’s Azerbaijan provinces but also in central regions of Iran such as Tehran, Qom, Qazvin, Hamadan, and Shiraz. In the national capital, Tehran, Turkish TV shows were <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/iran-destroys-100000-satellite-dishes/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">reported</a> as being overwhelmingly the primary motivator for enrolment in Turkish language courses at the <a href="https://www.filimo.com/tag/dubbed_turk" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Yunus Emre Institute</a>, a non-profit organization created by the government of Turkey.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By offering its viewers positive linguistic and cultural experiences, Turkey’s television serials challenge Iran's stereotypes and negative perceptions of Turks and Turkic languages. After all, Turks are often <a href="https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/arab-tourist-numbers-up-due-to-tv-series-25094" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">stereotyped</a> in Iranian mainstream cinema and television as “backward” or “ignorant” people. Their accents when speaking Farsi are often highlighted, made fun of, and framed as evidence of Turks’ inferior status<a name="_Hlk71057084" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. </a>The consequence of this ideological representation has been an <a href="https://www.farsnews.ir/news/13990821000585/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">internalized</a> idea of Turkish inferiority (and Persian superiority) by both minority and majority communities in the country. This unfortunate representation has given many Turks a negative <a href="https://www.mehrnews.com/news/5116451" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">experience</a> of Iranian television and cinema, further encouraging the popularity of the Turkish dizi series.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQpU1sC-EIZcCiomijZPDUKsdDxkEVzxM5Cg_T-pW4aQS8TxAt4teaKicJqiriAk0bZir4natGALsiizrva-U-NXo3hk5QoBmkPZYCoeMIPUOdopaNdFT-JdsWyG4oJoE5b-9jVeb4uQ/s4601/Turkish_TV_Series.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2588" data-original-width="4601" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQpU1sC-EIZcCiomijZPDUKsdDxkEVzxM5Cg_T-pW4aQS8TxAt4teaKicJqiriAk0bZir4natGALsiizrva-U-NXo3hk5QoBmkPZYCoeMIPUOdopaNdFT-JdsWyG4oJoE5b-9jVeb4uQ/w400-h225/Turkish_TV_Series.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h5 paraeid="{94e046d8-da3e-4d1c-b551-552c2a038c32}{34}" paraid="478040358" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><br />Cemal Hunal is greeted by the public at an event in Istanbul. Hunal plays Ares/Ahmed from Diriliş: Ertuğrul, a historical adventure series about the life of Osman I’s father set in the 13th century. Image: Turkey Photo/Shutterstock. Image: Turkey Photo/Shutterstock</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">For many Iranian Turks, TV serials based on Turkish history are particularly popular – and relevant. Examples include Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Resurrection: Ertugrul), Uyanış: Büyük Selçuklu (Awakening: Great Seljuk), and Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu (Alparslan: Great Seljuk), all offering historical narratives that are very different from the official discourse in Iran regarding the country’s various Turkic rulers – notably the Seljuks. Turkic dynasties ruled Iran for almost a millennium. Yet in Iranian nationalist historiography, their importance is regularly downplayed, and they’re generally (mis)represented as <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2015/02/17/iranians-learning-turkish-to-better-enjoy-tv-series" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">“conquerors” and “invaders”</a> who destroyed an ancient “Iranian-Aryan” civilization. Of course, such discourses in Iranian historiography have had harmful impacts on the country’s perceptions of its Turkic population. Turkish historical TV shows offer an alternative social construction of these histories. They give positive historical representations of Turkic historical figures and challenge the negatively fixed nationalist images of Turks still dominant in Iran.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Television series and cultural products are more than forms of entertainment. Their narratives and representations construct and influence our perceptions about ourselves and the world around us. With the ever-growing success of Turkish TV series, more Iranians are likely to watch, to question the misrepresentation of their own communities in programmes aired on Iran’s state-run television channels, and to feel more positive about themselves.</p><p paraeid="{5062646c-fc39-4d52-8399-8f78936d6e73}{228}" paraid="1697522869" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p paraeid="{5062646c-fc39-4d52-8399-8f78936d6e73}{228}" paraid="1697522869" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><hr style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><p paraeid="{5062646c-fc39-4d52-8399-8f78936d6e73}{228}" paraid="1697522869" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[1]</a> A historical drama called Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Resurrection: Ertuğrul)</span></p><p paraeid="{5062646c-fc39-4d52-8399-8f78936d6e73}{228}" paraid="1697522869" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran#_ftnref2" name="_ftn1" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="">[2]</a> Farsi is the only official language in Iran where over half of the population are <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230604889" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">ethnic minorities</a>. </span></p><div class="share-block" style="align-items: center; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 22px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">SHARE:</span><button data-sharer="facebook" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/fb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 8px;" /></button><button data-sharer="twitter" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/the-influence-of-turkeys-tv-series-on-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/twit.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 18px;" /></button></div><div class="tags-block" style="align-items: flex-start; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">TAGS:</span><div class="tag-group" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TURKEY, IRAN, TV Series, SOFT POWER, ECONOMY</div></div></div><br />South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-32263401155414338852021-10-20T01:58:00.000-07:002022-11-11T11:43:18.158-08:00How a Turk from Iranian Azerbaijan Found New Ways to Give Voice to Her Native LanguageDarya Hodaei - <a href="https://caspianpost.com/" target="_blank">The Caspian Post</a> - October 19, 2021<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEZOiA8BQhA1CkGmZB91UxpZdS455kWE3lC7vWX3rdqUWlLS_Mhi4TddxNKyfKnEwmVk5Df1m91PNxu0f11onyVJDGBT0tpjv0cj6JJ6o91EV685YSTi7KUHAE9NKmb-95TylmOedq7syquPk2dQ44MghG7yqOXtcl0x8-pxl_9I9fKW5ElYyJ2t0D=s4559" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3172" data-original-width="4559" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEZOiA8BQhA1CkGmZB91UxpZdS455kWE3lC7vWX3rdqUWlLS_Mhi4TddxNKyfKnEwmVk5Df1m91PNxu0f11onyVJDGBT0tpjv0cj6JJ6o91EV685YSTi7KUHAE9NKmb-95TylmOedq7syquPk2dQ44MghG7yqOXtcl0x8-pxl_9I9fKW5ElYyJ2t0D=w400-h279" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h5 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><br />Darya Hodaei and her family. Image: Darya Hodaei</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;">As well as her day job as a Florida pharmacist, Darya Hodaei runs a bilingual social media-based platform called </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/englishazerbaijani/?hl=en" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">EnglishAzerbaijani</a><span face="sf-reg" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #4a4e52; font-size: 18px;"> [Turkish] that helps promote Azerbaijani Turkish language and culture. Darya was born and raised in Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. A precocious child who was quickly recognized as having exceptional talents, she did well in school, gained a doctorate of pharmacy degree, and ran a community pharmacy before immigrating to the U.S. in pursuit of better opportunities. She shared her story with the Caspian Post.</span><br /><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">What Surprised You When You Arrived in Florida?</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">When I arrived in the USA, it took me a while to realize the “identity gap” in my life. Back in Iran, I made a few attempts at writing in Azerbaijani Turkish, but failure was inevitable due to the lack of official education and limited resources. My parents themselves also were deprived of education in their own native language. Having lived in that rigid environment, I did not have much of an idea of what would be fair politically or human rights-wise, or correct in terms of ethnic identity and language policies. </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I used to believe that talking about ethnic rights was bound to bring hostility. In Iran, any movement that had tried to improve our ethnic and linguistic rights had been suppressed by the system. Even fellow Azerbaijani-Turks would sometimes label those fighting for our linguistic rights as separatists (or worse), rather than realizing that they just wanted ethnic and linguistic rights for all Iranians, us included. I always approached the topic very cautiously or ignored the problem's existence as a coping mechanism.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, over time, it dawned on me that I really was free from that censured milieu. My level of awareness and mindset dramatically changed. Seeing Latinos in Florida preserving and promoting their language and culture was eye-opening. Bilingual or multilingual restaurant menus, school forms, and government paperwork all made me ponder. Soon, I was questioning why we were deprived of these simple and fundamental rights in Iran.</p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"> </h3><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Asking “Who Am I?”</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I realized that so much of the debate on such issues in Iran, whether through social media or celebrity voices, had either been polarized or suppressed. The system would deem and treat any voices pertaining to this issue political. Meanwhile, those who wanted a straightforward chance to use their language non-politically would often get frustrated in the process. Unfortunately, many of the Iranian elites and celebrities with a large fan base have either taken a vow of silence, or twist the topic in a way that would damage the cause. Either way, they just add salt to the wound.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGXFP-lhX9-zkGn24aFCICNqlUFusDeWB7iOy3g97XouxW-4tjgwUSdYbd0qkTDGIz_ndKq8bH_smZK1nisoqhrxyQP7K2GrwRSshz14XaXs_0zxzfUv1cswLMZUFCzuYuUqhXfnG2-7hafcxtkCFU-3sG3KlUiiDV9ADVuaw2WIbUOKhe-CE9W74Z=s4106" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2310" data-original-width="4106" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGXFP-lhX9-zkGn24aFCICNqlUFusDeWB7iOy3g97XouxW-4tjgwUSdYbd0qkTDGIz_ndKq8bH_smZK1nisoqhrxyQP7K2GrwRSshz14XaXs_0zxzfUv1cswLMZUFCzuYuUqhXfnG2-7hafcxtkCFU-3sG3KlUiiDV9ADVuaw2WIbUOKhe-CE9W74Z=w400-h225" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">These new realizations made me wonder about my ethnic identity. I wasn’t sure whether I should call myself a Persian or a Turk? The power of language connects people and is a major determinant of one’s identity. For example, people of Latino ethnicity are spread across many continents yet can still identify as Latino regardless of nationality without being denied this basic right. I thought to myself, if I am speaking Azerbaijani Turkish, then I should be able to establish a similar bond to Azerbaijani Turks. But at that time, I did not feel like I belonged to the Azerbaijani Turks’ ‘club.’ After all, I spoke a variant of Azerbaijani Turkish, which was highly influenced by Persian, which contributed to a sense of confusion. Long story short, I was not sure who I was.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Best for Baby?</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">When we were expecting our first baby, I started getting nervous, wondering which language I would use to communicate with my children. I knew a lot of nursery rhymes and stories in Persian because these are so widely promoted in the Iranian media. I was fully proficient in Farsi language and literature after 18 years of elementary school and higher education, not to mention almost every channel on national television is in Persian. In contrast, I knew almost nothing about the nursery rhymes, history, or written language of my own Azerbaijani Turkish language. If I knew something here and there – it was certainly not with the confidence necessary to teach my kids.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghLFmvh9d1yF_J4ghCOghAmAnt9PK4qV8u_MFfitvqShLuh5WPDpTGpZYf-rC3e-XwN5xNRsQ-jbMgG1PoGIIRWey-zmobYnTbzsWfdaeVyiXeYNa9p6HSH0z8yiElCwU7bSy_FJeR4KCMnyd-vMsGeYMUCUWehpSUJESBiMvwQu4TtklPzWwbEHhz=s1379" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1379" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghLFmvh9d1yF_J4ghCOghAmAnt9PK4qV8u_MFfitvqShLuh5WPDpTGpZYf-rC3e-XwN5xNRsQ-jbMgG1PoGIIRWey-zmobYnTbzsWfdaeVyiXeYNa9p6HSH0z8yiElCwU7bSy_FJeR4KCMnyd-vMsGeYMUCUWehpSUJESBiMvwQu4TtklPzWwbEHhz=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h5 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /><br />Darya reading with her son. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1737940108/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_tkin_p1_i0" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Which Animal is More Useful/ Hansı Heyvan Daha Faydalıdır? </a>is the bilingual Azerbaijani Turkish and English children’s book she wrote this year.</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Was it Challenging to Learn the Grammatical Structure and Writing Form of Your Mother Language?</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The first thing I needed to learn about my Turkic culture was the official writing system of my mother tongue. Turkish and Persian are written in Arabic script in Iran, but Azerbaijani Turkish has more letters and vowels than Persian, so learning Persian was not enough to learn Azerbaijani Turkish’s Arabic script. Moreover, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Turkic-languages" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Turkic languages</a> are not in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indo-Iranian-languages" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Indo-Iranian</a> language family partly because of the different grammatical structures. Turkic Languages comprise their own language family, including Turkish, Uyghur, Turkmen, Tatar, and others.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">When Iranian Azerbaijani Turks go to school, they must study in a completely different linguistic structure than their mother language. The product of this is even more complicated because the different linguistic structures taught in schools eventually bleed into and change the integrity of the students’ own use of their native language. These gradual impacts fan out and accumulate over generations. Eventually, Azerbaijani Turkish may become so compromised that it will lack standard structure, and a significant amount of vocabulary will be replaced by words of Persian or Arabic root.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">So, every time I tried to form linguistic links with the Turkic world, the written structure and some words seemed unfamiliar. Also, even once I could understand the meaning, I could not relate my distinct accent to the official language format. It was as though my identity was based on an unknown place instead of being a separate root of an old tree. Internalizing the new writing system at the age of 30 was by no means easy. I tended to write down exactly what I was pronouncing verbally, showing an apparently very low level of literacy. Four years on, learning my mother language remains an ongoing journey, and I am still fascinated by learning new aspects. However, the journey has helped me overcome identity issues and improved my ethnic self-awareness and general self-esteem. It has opened my eyes to the importance of learning Azerbaijani literature and how to write one’s mother tongue early in life. My books and website are aimed to assist with this task for the next generation.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Digging Deeper</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I started digging and finding out the sociological definitions of some words like identity, ethnicity, and nationality. On this path, I came across several informative articles and books on cultural and linguistic assimilation in Iran. After recognizing where the problem stems from, I realized that I needed to connect with Turkic culture and learn about my mother language. So, I educated myself as much as possible and started teaching my toddler son simple Azerbaijani Turkish words. I created an Instagram page, named it EnglishAzerbaijani, and kept posting new Turkish words I was learning with their Persian and English equivalents on a daily basis. It was essentially just a way to help myself memorize them. Not long after this, many Iranians and folks from the Republic of Azerbaijan started following EnglishAzerbaijani, which helped the platform grow substantially. In less than a month, I found people from different parts of the world who had a similar passion, and this brought us together to increase awareness and promote Azerbaijani culture and language as a team.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I believe our identity and our understanding of who we are is like a tree. After I started feeding my tree with information about my own roots by learning Azerbaijani Turkish, my sense of who I was grew tall. I started writing children’s storybooks in Azerbaijani Turkish, which offered me a sense of fulfillment greater than anything I had experienced before. Introducing one’s rich culture to the world is one of the best feelings anyone can get in the journey of exploring identity.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><div class="share-block" style="align-items: center; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 22px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">SHARE:</span><button data-sharer="facebook" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/intersections/freedom-in-florida-how-an-azerbaijani-turk-from-iran-found-new-ways-to-give-voice-to-her-native-language" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/fb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 8px;" /></button><button data-sharer="twitter" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/intersections/freedom-in-florida-how-an-azerbaijani-turk-from-iran-found-new-ways-to-give-voice-to-her-native-language" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/twit.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 18px;" /></button></div><div class="tags-block" style="align-items: flex-start; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">TAGS:</span><div class="tag-group" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">AZERBAIJANI COMMUNITY, AZERBAIJANI-TURK, IRAN, LANGUAGE</div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-22443636835831716862021-10-19T01:42:00.000-07:002022-11-11T11:42:37.252-08:00Dr. Darya Hodaei - Promoting Turkish Language <p><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qtqNCMCEe8o" width="550" youtube-src-id="qtqNCMCEe8o"></iframe></div><br />If you’ve read her <a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/intersections/freedom-in-florida-how-an-azerbaijani-turk-from-iran-found-new-ways-to-give-voice-to-her-native-language" target="_blank">article</a> on Caspian Post you might feel that you already know Dr. Darya Hodaei – a Florida-based Azerbaijani-Turk from Iran who is the brains behind the language website English Azerbaijani [Turkish]. On top of her day job as a pharmacist and the pressures of motherhood, she has written three bi-lingual children’s books to promote the Azerbaijani Turkish language and culture. In this podcast we get to know her a little better and hear more about her passion for her native language.<p></p><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Check out her youtube channel here: </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIQOI6YiLSnwbMhmE1MHh0A" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIQO...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Her Instagram: </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqazNJMlY0LVdjRGR0dFJEczNRY3Rzb3QzV1B4QXxBQ3Jtc0ttWi1vdmJTM2tNSjFnY0tSUS1wd1gybzM0RkZIdTFjTWxNN3gyb00tam5UX010emY0c1p6VmFhRnI3NUY3NmlQUDBKWUVSZ01fRXB4azVRVFRzZENFVWs0S2VjSlIwZV9wREozak0tcUhCWVUyQVEyUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fenglishazerbaijani%2F%3Fhl%3Den&v=qtqNCMCEe8o" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/englishazer...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Her Azerbaijani-Turk/English Bilingual Children’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Darya-Hodaei/e/B0979GQGZ4?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1634835662&sr=1-1</span>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-55421866826676223572021-10-15T09:32:00.008-07:002021-10-15T09:47:43.871-07:00Turkish Cinema in Iran<p><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/arts/azerbaijani-cinema-in-iran" target="_blank"> The Caspian Post</a> - Anar Tabrizli - October 14, 2021<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8sb7kGb_HvVGBmzOqX33dRZGfxEKwWzqgbpXqOQqJBCZaVMrD16bENgqdPo-yF5BLt6gohW9ol_0tnJpmvkqQ1jFKC82iFUuMec4lucjnrqiA0SXfZGoZI-hpxJWS84ByZVPalDupxU/s2048/Turkish-Cinema-Iran.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8sb7kGb_HvVGBmzOqX33dRZGfxEKwWzqgbpXqOQqJBCZaVMrD16bENgqdPo-yF5BLt6gohW9ol_0tnJpmvkqQ1jFKC82iFUuMec4lucjnrqiA0SXfZGoZI-hpxJWS84ByZVPalDupxU/w400-h266/Turkish-Cinema-Iran.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br />Making movies has changed a lot over the years, and Turks in Iran have been around for all of it. Image: yotanan chankheaw/Shutterstock</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The widely anticipated release of <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tarlan</em>, a film made by Mohammad Hosseini, is the latest of several big-name Iranian Azerbaijani movies to emerge in recent years. <w:sdt id="408894162" sdttag="goog_rdk_0" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><w:sdt id="-765380163" sdttag="goog_rdk_1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>Given Iran’s large Azerbaijani-Turk population, it is understandable that the country’s cinema, like many other cultural fields, has been influenced by Azerbaijanis. However, it has been a struggle. For most of the 20th century, Iranian filmmakers of any linguistic group were obliged to make their movies in Farsi. And even in that language, Azerbaijani Turkish accents were all too often used to suggest that a character had lower status. It has been a long time coming, but that has started to change significantly in the last few years. <br /><br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Turks, Theatre and Cinema in Pre-revolutionary Iran</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://defapress.ir/fa/news/325208/%D9%85%D8%B8%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The country’s first cinematograph </a>was introduced in 1900 by <w:sdt id="384143685" sdttag="goog_rdk_2" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><w:sdt id="1905483981" sdttag="goog_rdk_3" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>Qajar Shah Mozaffar al-Din, who had spent his younger years as titular governor of Azerbaijan Province. After 1925, when<a href="https://iramcenter.org/fa/turkish-a-trapped-language-between-the-regime-and-iranian-nationalists/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> Reza Shah Pahlavi took power</a>, non-Persian languages were officially outlawed in Iran, so early Turkish-Iranian films were written and spoken in Farsi.<br /><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWgehL_jfcYhQjZVDNbTHxplEKy_C1Skcvxmk-iEGu-gAC_oORvVRuvXGwH2Q0R-Mi7Op6g92pgBsjWtoHphFFZSELWxgTztD4IbJE5FlsVzqhdu55TKAeSbpaxsMv-DdJ8KjqG76V-Q/s546/Portrait_of_Mozaffar_ad-Din_Shah_Qajar_by_Abdullah_Mirza_Qajar.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="546" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWgehL_jfcYhQjZVDNbTHxplEKy_C1Skcvxmk-iEGu-gAC_oORvVRuvXGwH2Q0R-Mi7Op6g92pgBsjWtoHphFFZSELWxgTztD4IbJE5FlsVzqhdu55TKAeSbpaxsMv-DdJ8KjqG76V-Q/w400-h225/Portrait_of_Mozaffar_ad-Din_Shah_Qajar_by_Abdullah_Mirza_Qajar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h5 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;">Qajar Shah Mozaffar al-Din (ruled 1896-1907) is generally <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mozaffar-od-Din-Shah" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">remembered</a> as <w:sdt id="-1567567751" sdttag="goog_rdk_4" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>an incompetent ruler better suited to pleasure than management. Still, under his rule, one of the positive things was the arrival in Iran of the first cinematograph. Image: public domain</h5><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A key figure in cinema and theatre linking the two Azerbaijans was Samad Sabahi (1914-1978). Born on the then Russian-side of the border in Ganja and graduating in theatre studies in Baku, <a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C9%99m%C9%99d_Sabahi" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Sabahi emigrated to Tabriz in 1932</a>. There, and in other important cities of Iranian Azerbaijan, he played an important role in the development of theatre, notably through his 1941 play <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://iramcenter.org/fa/turkish-cinema-in-iran/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Od Gelini</a></em> (Bride of Fire). 1941 was when the British and the Soviets informally divided Iran between them under the guise of WWII. One side effect was a greater sense of cultural freedom for non-Persian citizens. As the war ended and the Red Army withdrew from northern Iran, the USSR tried to retain a degree of leverage by supporting two breakaway republics. The bigger of these was an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_People%27s_Government" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">autonomous ‘People’s Government’</a> under the Azerbaijan Democratic Party of pro-Soviet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%27far_Pishevari" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Jafar Pishevari</a>. During this short window of opportunity (November 1945 to December 1946), Sabahi founded several theatrical groups and staged many Tabriz productions in his mother tongue. These included the classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzeyir_Hajibeyov" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Uzeyir Hajibeyli</a> operetta <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arshin_Mal_Alan_(operetta)" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Arshin Mal Alan</a></em> and the play <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Qacaq Kerem</em>, <w:sdt id="452832311" sdttag="goog_rdk_5" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><w:sdt id="389309737" sdttag="goog_rdk_6" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>a historically based folktale of the courageous <a href="https://az.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qa%C3%A7aq_K%C9%99r%C9%99m" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">son of a peasant revolt leader</a>. He spends 15 years as a fugitive after fleeing a blood feud in Western Azerbaijan.<br /><br /></p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In 1946 Samad was joined in temporarily autonomous Tabriz by his brother, the prominent writer <a href="https://ishiq.net/m%c9%99qal%c9%99/588/%d8%a7%d8%a4%d8%aa%d9%86-%da%af%d9%88%d9%86%d9%84%d8%b1%db%8c%d9%86-%d9%82%d9%88%d8%ac%d8%a7-%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%84%db%8c-%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%84%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%88%d8%ba%d8%a7.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Ganjali Sabahi</a>, who had <a href="https://az.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C9%99nc%C9%99li_Sabahi" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">till then been in Soviet Azerbaijan</a>. However, the Azerbaijan People’s Government fell later that year, and the ban on performances and publications in Azerbaijani was reinstated. Ganjali Sabahi, accused of being an illegal immigrant, was sent to a two-year exile in a ‘deprived village’ of the Lorestan region. Samad Sabahi’s unsanctioned productions of the previous year meant that he too was punished – <a href="https://ishiq.net/m%c9%99qal%c9%99/6025/%d8%b5%d9%85%d8%af-%d8%aa%d8%a6%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%b1-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d8%b1%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3%e2%80%8c%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a7.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">banned from artistic activity </a>for three years. After that, he was allowed to work again but only on the condition that he leave the Azerbaijani region of Iran. </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Now based in Tehran, Samad Sabahi took to cinema, directing a film version of <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Arshin Mal Alan</em> and in 1953, <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashdi_ebad" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Mashhadi Ebad</a></em>, another <a href="http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/53_folder/53_articles/53_olmasin.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">satirical musical comedy</a> also based on a 1910 Hajibeyli <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Not_That_One,_Then_This_One" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">original</a>. However, all the words and even the song lyrics were performed in Persian, so even though the movie is said to be the first to make a direct connection between the two Azerbaijans, the film is probably less celebrated today than the <a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_olmas%C4%B1n,_bu_olsun_(film,_1956)" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">1956 version</a> made in Baku in the original Azerbaijani.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAgqqmmYtVhmEZvWaIbBTYMx3ytGlYI1zaYnFtvH0QsdSE_Yo-jQwJqBfEwvwmsPbUf79s_ynZmeKd0OcWwYLb7-heuSw5-d7d00i5OcAf3AQfoyD_H17zZsA1NEULjkwXXKelVwHLUo/s998/S%25C9%2599m%25C9%2599d_v%25C9%2599_G%25C9%2599nc%25C9%2599li_Sabahi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="998" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAgqqmmYtVhmEZvWaIbBTYMx3ytGlYI1zaYnFtvH0QsdSE_Yo-jQwJqBfEwvwmsPbUf79s_ynZmeKd0OcWwYLb7-heuSw5-d7d00i5OcAf3AQfoyD_H17zZsA1NEULjkwXXKelVwHLUo/w400-h225/S%25C9%2599m%25C9%2599d_v%25C9%2599_G%25C9%2599nc%25C9%2599li_Sabahi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><h5 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #aeb5b7; font-family: sf-med; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; list-style-type: none; margin: -24px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">Ganjali Sabahi (On the left) and Samad Sabahi (On the right). Image: public domain</h5></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">After the Islamic Revolution in Iran</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, <a href="https://iramcenter.org/fa/turkish-cinema-in-iran/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Azerbaijani cinema</a> in Iran entered a new period. Several film companies were established in the Iranian Azerbaijani cities of Urmia (Orumiyeh) and Tabriz, with films directed by <w:sdt id="825562756" sdttag="goog_rdk_7" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><w:sdt id="163901088" sdttag="goog_rdk_8" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>Rasoul Malakalipour, Yadollah Samadi, Yadollah Navasari, and Hassan Mohammadzadeh. However, cultural inequality and racial discrimination continued, and the use of the Azerbaijani language was still not a possibility for many years.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Instead, directors like <a href="https://iramcenter.org/fa/turkish-cinema-in-iran/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Yadollah Samadi</a> (1952-2018) focused on Azerbaijani culture, especially folklore. Such movies included <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fa/1/13/Domrol_Poster.jpg" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Dümrül</a></em> <w:sdt id="-818888424" sdttag="goog_rdk_9" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(1993), a heroic tale based on sections of the Turkic epic Dede Qorqud,</w:sdt><w:sdt id="436732969" sdttag="goog_rdk_10" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Savalan</em> (<w:sdt id="-436290155" sdttag="goog_rdk_11" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">198</w:sdt>9), the story of Azerbaijani-Turkish villagers resisting bandit attacks, and the tyrannical tragedy Saray (1997). All were initially filmed in the Persian language, but eventually, Saray was dubbed into Azerbaijani Turkish – a move widely welcomed by Azerbaijani audiences in Iran.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPn3QOLsI8M03UugtitzVjbOP326Pxq6mtWfvT5th0B85h_8DRbU2JPD5_bpFBXzB-0SqR7bp1JHgptUFRpWJfs-vZpKQuHIyvOFi_GcG-5i5QVVyBsMv46mKO55KgSQU1sqpzQYvnzFg/s2048/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_01_October_2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPn3QOLsI8M03UugtitzVjbOP326Pxq6mtWfvT5th0B85h_8DRbU2JPD5_bpFBXzB-0SqR7bp1JHgptUFRpWJfs-vZpKQuHIyvOFi_GcG-5i5QVVyBsMv46mKO55KgSQU1sqpzQYvnzFg/w400-h225/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_01_October_2021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Movies in Azerbaijani Turkish in Iran</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://iramcenter.org/fa/turkish-cinema-in-iran/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">In the 90s</a>, there was an increasingly intense fight against linguistic and cultural discrimination against minorities in Iran. Meanwhile, the regaining of independence by the Republic of Azerbaijan on the north side of the Aras River helped raise cultural awareness among Azerbaijanis in Iran. As the decade proceeded, Iran at last witnessed Azerbaijani Turkish language film production and TV programming for channels in Tabriz, Ardabil, Urmia and Zanjan.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Though broadcast on television rather than on the big screen, <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Vüsal Günləri</em> (The days of Unification), directed by Reza Siami, was the first such film. Then in 1995, cinemas screened Rahbar Ghanbari’s O (S/he), set in a village of the Ardabil region of Iranian Azerbaijan. It went on to win awards at many domestic and international festivals. A year later, Ghanbari headed north of the border to make <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wishes </em>about refugees in the Republic of Azerbaijan displaced by the First Karabakh War. Other Azerbaijani-Iranian filmmakers such as Hassan Najafi, Babak Shirin Sefat, Vahid Azar and later Ali Abdali all made feature films in the Republic of Azerbaijan and/or Turkey, but – apart from one of Ghanbari’s films – none of those movies were screened in Iran.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The situation was better for shorts. In the post-revolutionary years in Iran, short films became popular as the government attempted to nurture young filmmakers who could launch Islamic cinema. In the meantime, many young Azerbaijani Turks took advantage of this opportunity to enter the film industry and continue to make shorts in their mother tongue. Success stories include Reza Jamali, Ismail Monsef, Farhad Eivazi, Shahzad Qureshi and the Ark brothers (Bahman and Bahram). The latter’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">AniMal</em> investigates the limits of humanity in a 15-minute tale of a man ‘becoming’ a ram in an attempt to sneak across a border. It won several <a href="https://www.salamcinama.ir/post/ZzKE/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%AD%DB%8C%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-animal-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B2" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">awards,</a> including a second prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2017.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJdEtu1XNev72gglAt-Ub5SDmmhbzN5NAFb8WKB4XdW26bKqBclm4iNgvlXp2Z5zCc8JPVkZFo0cBSgdSEmMs8wxsfCpzgaKcnYO1RrvQdWdBGZUe3nJfAD9mNP7Ld7jVgAJnjIhCwqc/s2048/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_02_October_2021+copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJdEtu1XNev72gglAt-Ub5SDmmhbzN5NAFb8WKB4XdW26bKqBclm4iNgvlXp2Z5zCc8JPVkZFo0cBSgdSEmMs8wxsfCpzgaKcnYO1RrvQdWdBGZUe3nJfAD9mNP7Ld7jVgAJnjIhCwqc/w400-h225/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_02_October_2021+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Latest Developments</h3><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Although serious barriers remain, Azerbaijani independent cinema in Iran is growing. Difficulties remain in finding investors, finding screening opportunities, and various bureaucratic problems. Still, there has been much progress in the number and quality of movies made in recent years, along with the freedom to celebrate the Azerbaijani language. These days, home-grown Azerbaijani-Iranian cinema offers a form of cultural resistance that helps preserve and re-honour the mother tongue.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><w:sdt id="-817560445" sdttag="goog_rdk_17" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt><w:sdt id="1434088300" sdttag="goog_rdk_18" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></w:sdt>The 2016 feature film<a href="https://vigiato.net/p/94428" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"Ev"</em> (The Home)</a>, directed by Asghar Yousefinejad, attracted the attention of Iranian film critics. Produced in Tabriz in Azerbaijani Turkish with Persian subtitles, it hangs on the dilemmas of a traditional family. They want to bury their dead father but discover that his wish had been to donate his body to medical science. That’s problematic, it turns out, as it would reveal that his own daughter and son-in-law had murdered him. <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ev</em> won the Simorgh Zarrin and Simin awards for best screenplay and best film at Iran’s <a href="https://www.fajriff.com/en/archive/festival-35/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">35th Fajr Film Festival,</a> along with the Netpak Award (Development of Asian Cinema).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyon8iuVMgF_6xgWrHTnIwyb0C5MD8QGeyw7okaXtQuOK5urfufoq_rppUZNPmIu8Rf-zTEANJGimtgQRbMeLOYZAqAe_MEjJR05aiJjl6vLzACEUcEADRUpoREhLvDkK9Lm3-FfcBik/s2048/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_03_October_2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyon8iuVMgF_6xgWrHTnIwyb0C5MD8QGeyw7okaXtQuOK5urfufoq_rppUZNPmIu8Rf-zTEANJGimtgQRbMeLOYZAqAe_MEjJR05aiJjl6vLzACEUcEADRUpoREhLvDkK9Lm3-FfcBik/w400-h225/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_03_October_2021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br />The film’s success led to a flurry of activity for independent Azerbaijani-Iranian cinema. First, Ismail Monsef produced <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9849402/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Kömür</a></em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9849402/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> (Charcoal),</a> in which a charcoal-burner’s son evades prison and escapes across the border into the Azerbaijan Republic, causing a spiral of tragic events for his father. Then Reza Jamali won the Asian Spirit award at the <a href="https://2019.tiff-jp.net/news/en/?p=15679" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">2019 Tokyo Film</a> Festival with <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Old Men Never Die.</em> That’s a mesmerizing, if slow-paced tale of a man whose past life as an executioner has, he believes, frightened away the spirit of death and left the white-beards of the village immortal. It’s a benefit that they start to rue. The magnificent choice of very genuine old characters adds to a deadpan humour that feels like a darker take on Jaco Van Dormael’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brand_New_Testament" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Le Tout Nouveau Testament</a></em> – albeit based in Azerbaijan rather than Belgium. You can get the idea from a 10-minute version that’s <a href="https://www.viddsee.com/video/never-do-the-old-men-die/sm8wk" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">available online</a>.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">At the 2020 Fajr Film Festival, Nikki Karimi's <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Atabay </em>was a prominent Azerbaijani-language success, while the Ark brothers' <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Deri</em> (Skin), based on a theme from Azerbaijani mythology, won best movie and the best soundtrack in two categories. Very unusual for Iranian cinema, Deri is in the horror genre.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAcPiHYR8b9mUPgJXisT_5cpu8Xc8ddHfAMN9JcJwoEWbPnxsuvWVs6n4Yhuf0BqlQtO8ShMHIqjyVIyDWyE6KByYISiLI2GvFUS7xqTaD0127vLLUD1PvkQCtsIJ7AtrFrPoK5hRdiE4/s2048/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_04_October_2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAcPiHYR8b9mUPgJXisT_5cpu8Xc8ddHfAMN9JcJwoEWbPnxsuvWVs6n4Yhuf0BqlQtO8ShMHIqjyVIyDWyE6KByYISiLI2GvFUS7xqTaD0127vLLUD1PvkQCtsIJ7AtrFrPoK5hRdiE4/w400-h225/CP_Azerbaijan_Iran_Film_Graphic_Posters_Design_04_October_2021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #4a4e52; font-family: sf-reg; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br />Released online in 2020, <em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tarlan</em> is the latest movie to come out of Iran’s ever more vibrant Azerbaijani independent cinema movement. A social commentary, it revolves around a shepherd boy who seems to have a supernatural ability to predict when wolves are threatening his flock. He tries to persuade villagers that this is simply a learned skill, but they are convinced he has extraordinary powers and demand he work a miracle for them too. Trailers for the film have been widely shared on social media by Azerbaijanis around the globe suggesting that it will have a significant audience on both sides of the Araz River – in independent Azerbaijan as well as the Azerbaijani regions of Iran and well beyond. And to make it easier for international audiences, the pay-to-view <a href="https://hashure.com/ekran/Tarlan?lang=en&fbclid=IwAR3X3yVsrO4NHIRR2skdcEs9d12_D_K4yVUU3YrJGx06dfgM9IyhB6saBsM" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3aa5a6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">online service</a> is now available through an English language portal for just 15,000 Iranian Rials (around 40 US cents).</p><div class="share-block" style="align-items: center; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 22px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">SHARE:</span><button data-sharer="facebook" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/arts/azerbaijani-cinema-in-iran" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/fb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 8px;" /></button><button data-sharer="twitter" data-url="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/culture/arts/azerbaijani-cinema-in-iran" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="https://caspianpost.com/img/twit.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 36px; object-fit: cover; padding: 0px; width: 18px;" /></button></div><div class="tags-block" style="align-items: flex-start; background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span face="sf-semibold" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">TAGS:</span><div class="tag-group" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #66c5c6; font-family: sf-semibold; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">AZERBAIJAN, IRAN, CULTURE, ART</div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-52410311697643113402021-08-07T11:13:00.031-07:002021-08-07T15:33:00.462-07:00How a Soccer Team Is Amplifying the Voices of Turks in Iran<p><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/contributors/23" target="_blank">Stephanie Lazerte</a> - The Caspian Post - August 06, 2021 <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2021/08/how-soccer-team-is-amplifying-voices-of.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1999" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFxHNzOFnd3F_K-PDtynkk8fmsmM__8HGW4PWciZxLX0yjwLFQ5Gei4Bgmm5mQcFkAMzBho3qqKj58RrYCUR-fxM4kTKGB7qViPAYdvvihLCnCezstFKk891QsriE9AHRCVCM04A8_uk/w540-h360/Tractor_FC_Azerbaijan_Turk.jpg" width="540" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2021/08/how-soccer-team-is-amplifying-voices-of.html" target="_blank">Tractor Football games draw full stadiums in northern Iran, both home and away. Image: Tractor Football Club Official Website</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks to mass media, the mention of Iran brings plenty of different images to mind. Memoirs like Azar Nafisi’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Lolita_in_Tehran" target="_blank">Reading Lolita in Tehran</a>, and the 2012 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_(2012_film)">Argo</a>, certainly influenced how I envisaged the country when growing up in Canada. However, then I moved to Baku, Azerbaijan, a city less than five hours’ drive north of the Iranian border. Since then, I have begun to see Iran from a whole new perspective. <br /><br /><span></span></div><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"> During the Second Karabakh War last fall, I was sent an unusual YouTube video filmed at a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_S.C." target="_blank">Tractor FC</a> soccer game. The video was fascinating not because of the goalmouth action. Indeed players didn’t feature. The footage, instead, was of fans in Tractor FC jerseys, packed like sardines into a Tehran stadium and singing their hearts out. The song that they belted out was not a football chant but an Azerbaijani song by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_INbBXQwHT6zg9Me6OUicA" target="_blank">Uzeyir Mehdizade</a>. It’s one that I had heard many times – in taxis and Baku restaurants – one of those popular songs that get overplayed here. One hand on their heart, one in the air, the fans were singing from their guts with their eyes squeezed shut like evangelicals at a church rally.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ih03v22D5lE" width="520" youtube-src-id="Ih03v22D5lE"></iframe></div><br />Translated, the lyrics mean something like this:<br /><br />“I’m proud of my homeland <br />Long live Azerbaijan! <br /> young people with you <br />Long live Azerbaijan! <br />If you call me, I will come running <br />Long live Azerbaijan! <br />Come what may, I would even die for you <br />Long live Azerbaijan!”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s a scene that you might expect if they were supporting a team from Baku. Yet Tractor FC is from Iran. On reflection, though, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, Tabriz is the largest city in an area of Iran that’s populated mainly by people of ‘Azerbaijani-Turk’ descent. It’s an area that many in Baku refer to as “South Azerbaijan.” What was going on at that soccer game is part of a very long story.</div><br /><b>What on Earth is “South Azerbaijan?”</b><br /><br />No matter whose company you are in, in the Republic of Azerbaijan, you’re likely to hear the same trio of reactions when you mention Iran. <br /><br />“Pistachios are half the price” – cheap prices make Iran a great place to shop. <br /><br />“Let me give you the WhatsApp number of my nose guy!” – it’s also a hub for medical tourism and plastic surgery. <br /><br />And lastly, without fail – “There are more Azerbaijanis in Iran than in Azerbaijan, you know.” <br /><br />Residents of Baku often refer to the six provinces of Northwestern Iran as “South Azerbaijan,” some with a twinkle in their eye, others without a trace of humour.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbMlgTY_p5pr-j14zbp3wxupNaopv3Yu4kYIflKymB6ppHjtvz6NXKnO7BLmqM3Gob-sBjnbgTCqJ_KFmXLSjRu6mn733PFXKWoTssPAwnOerreH_q7LkeibnuE3wPXKUxhJ3WPhZPZM/s2048/South_Azerbaijan_Iran.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1322" data-original-width="2048" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbMlgTY_p5pr-j14zbp3wxupNaopv3Yu4kYIflKymB6ppHjtvz6NXKnO7BLmqM3Gob-sBjnbgTCqJ_KFmXLSjRu6mn733PFXKWoTssPAwnOerreH_q7LkeibnuE3wPXKUxhJ3WPhZPZM/w640-h414/South_Azerbaijan_Iran.jpg" width="540" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Official demographic statistics in Iran don’t generally include self-declared ethnic identity. For this reason, estimates of Iran’s Azerbaijani Turk population range wildly: from 18 million to 40 million, depending on who you might be talking to. A realistic estimate would be that they constitute well around <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/04/28/iran-is-more-than-persia/#easy-footnote-bottom-18-116588" target="_blank">23%</a> of the entire population of Iran, concentrated most significantly in the six northwestern provinces. This area, along with what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan, had once been governed as a patchwork of semi-independent Turkic khanates, Muslim mini-kingdoms that had gained autonomy from the Qajar Empire in the mid-18th century and were later fought over by Imperial Russia and Qajar Iran. Long story short, the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) treaties saw land to the south of the Aras River go to Qajar (now known as Iran), and those north of the Aras to Russia.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Extended families and long-held connections were severed in these agreements, especially – after several historical twists and turns – once the Russian Empire became the relatively closed USSR. As a result, a shared culture and language would now be influenced differently on either side by outside forces. These days, Turks in Iran are neither Turkish nor Iranian. But neither are they quite the same as their Azerbaijani brothers to the north. They are, perhaps, a distinct combination of all three, with a unique culture and history.</div><br /><b>Language Rights </b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Few socio-linguistic issues are as passionately cherished as is mother-tongue education. It has been <a href="http://www.ecdip.org/docs/pdf/UNESCO%20Summary%202010-1.pdf" target="_blank">well documented</a> that when a child begins elementary school in a language they are not speaking at home, they miss out on crucial learning fundamentals and will pay the price throughout their education. UNESCO <a href="https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/children-learn-better-their-mother-tongue" target="_blank">encourages</a> mother tongue education during primary school years before switching to the national language, enabling kids to grasp the most important concepts without the added stress of learning a new language simultaneously. In an article for Pakistan’s Cutting Edge, Rasheed Ali <a href="https://weeklycuttingedge.com/education-in-mother-tongue-time-to-rethink-the-idea/">writes</a>, “…it is through the mother tongue that cognitive skills flourish in such a manner that the learner is able to critically evaluate, visually imagine and calculate. Likewise, scientific concepts are better built if taught in the mother tongue.”</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">So, as someone trained in socio-linguistics, I was keen to discover for myself the status of Azerbaijani speakers’ language rights in Iran. Do families have access to mother tongue education for their children? Bilingual education, perhaps? Is there government funding for programming? Does the government recognize ethnicities at all? Are they permitted to hold meetings, celebrations or ceremonies in their language? Despite the Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, himself being Azerbaijani Iranian on his father’s side, the answer to all these questions proved to be a somewhat resounding no. According to the Iranian Education Ministry, even having a “<a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-education-minstry-teachers-rules-women-infertile-too-much-facial-hair/28694884.html">thick accent</a>” makes you unfit to teach.</div><br /><b>A Lake, a Castle, and a People</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Does this attitude mean that Azerbaijani-Turks in Iran are in some way oppressed? The question is both complex and controversial. The answer is likely to depend very much upon who you ask. And when.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Take the issue of water shortages. As we saw recently with the <a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/news/caspian-region/water-shortage-protests-in-khuzestan-province-spill-over-to-tehran" target="_blank">Ahwazi’s protests in July 2021</a> over the redirection of the Karkeh River, mismanagement of natural resources can be the source of deep mistrust between minority peoples and the national government. In the northwest of Iran, Lake Urmia, a <a href="https://amuraworld.com/en/topics/conservancy-report/articles/6736-lake-urmia" target="_blank">UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve</a> whose surface area has shrunk by 90% in the last few decades, has been dubbed the “Azerbaijani-Turks’ Karkeh River.” Many large saline bodies of water worldwide are drying up at an alarming rate, but some Azerbaijani-Turks in Iran blame the government for the speed of this particular disaster and insist that the neglect of the lake is due to the ethnicity that surrounds and uses it.<br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsavoWTVsi7-o_2YS0S8XzB49bP2n8tO6y0c2e7nlSs4nbrF3jf69s51jRCGqN5G-aEwgHB_h_HGzSuIxRF2Yz9NLn3etK9Xm4E32fRcCmrVlf6KQ6lZoRO99JRgRGzmdjZxaIHjugWI0/s2048/Babek_Castle_Azerbaijan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsavoWTVsi7-o_2YS0S8XzB49bP2n8tO6y0c2e7nlSs4nbrF3jf69s51jRCGqN5G-aEwgHB_h_HGzSuIxRF2Yz9NLn3etK9Xm4E32fRcCmrVlf6KQ6lZoRO99JRgRGzmdjZxaIHjugWI0/w540-h360/Babek_Castle_Azerbaijan.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10.56px;">More than a tourist site, Babek Castle is a marker of identity for many Azerbaijani-Turks in Iran. Image: </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babak_castle_(28071793717).jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #33aaff; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 10.56px;" target="_blank">Public Doman via Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><div style="text-align: justify;">More directly ethnopolitical was the controversy over Babek Castle, one of northern Iran’s most dramatic tourist sights. The imposing cliff-top ruins are integrally associated with 9th-century Azerbaijani hero Babek Khorramdin, who started a 22-year uprising against the Arab Caliphates in 815AD. Since around 1999, thousands of Azerbaijani Turks in northwestern Iran would run the gauntlet of official disapproval and walk the 14km from Kaleybar to Babek Castle as a celebration of the hero’s birthday. However, in 2005, scores of people were reportedly arrested during the walk, and at least <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/76000/mde130742006en.pdf" target="_blank">21 were sentenced to prison terms of up to one year</a>. In 2006 the celebration was essentially stopped altogether as tensions between Azerbaijani-Turks and the Iranian authorities came to a head.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The spark was the publication of a provocatively insulting cartoon in the children’s section of a state newspaper. Persian speakers often mock the Turkish language as sounding uneducated. However, this slur went much further, discussing ways to kill and torture “cockroaches”, which – the cartoon’s satirical punch line suggested – could only speak Turkish[1]. Although the cartoonist was imprisoned and the newspaper shut down in response to this tasteless episode, the reaction was a wave of street demonstrations amongst Turkish Iranians. The protests were crushed. Amnesty International <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/76000/mde130742006en.pdf" target="_blank">reported</a> that thousands were detained, hundreds arrested, and 27 killed. The authorities accepted that there were casualties but disputed numbers.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">At the time, this was seen in the West as exemplifying Iran’s intolerance towards minorities. However, before jumping to black-and-white conclusions, it’s worth reminding ourselves of the date: May 2006. It was around that time that George W Bush’s US regime, having invaded Afghanistan and toppled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, was engaging in increasingly vociferous sabre-rattling towards Iran, which he’d branded part of an “axis of evil.” In April 2006, the question of the US going to war with Iran <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/27039b0c-c8b6-11da-b642-0000779e2340" target="_blank">was being widely discussed by global news media</a>. In that context, it seems a little less surprising that the country was heavy-handed in controlling ethnolinguistic demonstrations that might have been open to manipulation. The Amnesty International report on the ‘cartoon demonstrations’ mentions that authorities had claimed that the disturbances had been stirred up by “US and other outside forces.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Whatever the cause, the result was that the annual walk to Babek fortress became so highly controlled that it essentially lost its appeal. That most prominent outlet for ‘walking out’ ethnolinguistic identity and celebrating the solidarity of shared history was now out of reach.</div><br /><b>The Idea of National Identity</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">A crucial historical aside at this point is to remind ourselves that the very idea of ethnolinguistic national identities in the modern sense is essentially a concept that developed in 19th century Europe. The three empires that then straddled the Caspian Region – Russian, Iranian and Ottoman, remained great multi-cultural melting pots until WWI. However, after the utter devastation of the Great War, each took a very different approach to the new world order of nation-states. The Ottoman Empire shattered into a plethora of smaller countries while, at its core, republican Turkey focused – brutally and semi-successfully – on creating a relatively homogenous Turkish identity. The Russian Empire took a different approach, piecing itself back together in the 1920s as a union of nominally separate Soviet republics, each with its own ethnolinguistic identity but officially placing pro-Russian, socialist doctrine above ethnicity. Like Turkey, the Qajar Iran Empire – which had already been significantly diminished in the 19th century through losses to neighbours – was absolutely brutalized by WWI. Although neutral on the surface, much of the empire had been carved up between competing powers and between 1917 and 1919 <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780761826330/The-Great-Famine-and-Genocide-in-Persia-1917-1919" target="_blank">as much as a quarter of the population died</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ruins of the empire were reborn as the nation-state of Iran. To unify the wrecked country, the new regime of Reza Pahlavi adopted a language policy demanding that all governance, education and publishing be conducted in Persian. The result was that mother-tongue literature and schooling were stamped out for over half of the population, including Kurds, Lurs, Ahwazi Arabs, Baluchis, Turkmens and notably Turks. However, the Persian language policy was arguably less ruthless than similar moves in republican Turkey, and these days a plurality of minority languages remain very widely spoken on a day-to-day basis. In this way, more than many other countries, Iran has retained some of the multi-ethnic flavour of the pre-WWI Middle East.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Ironically, despite the contemporary West’s post-modern calls for multiculturalism, Iran’s deeper-rooted, lower-key model of widespread ethnic mixing is often seen as out of step with a 21st-century world dominated by identity politics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since the 1930s, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327732655_Language_Ideologies_and_the_Politics_of_Language_Azerbaijanis_in_Iran" target="_blank">Iran has often equated </a>attempts to demand additional non-Persian language rights with moves towards separatism. And indeed, foreign powers periodically have tried to amplify or even create ethnic tensions as a tool to undermine Tehran. The most egregious example was after WWII. Wartime Iran had once again been divided (between British and Russian forces). After the war, Stalin wanted to hang onto a part of his southern conquests. So to solidify the Soviet occupation of northwestern Iran, <a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2012/02/in-memoriam-two-autonomous-republics.html">two states were created</a> - the notionally Kurdish<a href="https://fx.substack.com/p/today-in-middle-eastern-history-the-aa0" target="_blank"> Mahabad Republic</a> and the<a href="https://southaz.blogspot.com/2010/12/south-azerbaijan-peoples-government-dec.html"> Azerbaijan People’s Government</a> centred in Tabriz. Both were justified as ostensibly representing peoples whose language rights had been trounced by an essentially imperialist Persia. While language rights were indeed a point of contention, there is little doubt that the banner of ethnic liberation was a fairly transparent smokescreen for territorial expansion of the USSR and that, in reality, the Tabriz ‘government’ was managed mainly by the Soviet regime via Baku. Memories of this short-lived experiment have long since faded in the West. However, the history is clearly remembered in Iran, which now looks with skepticism every time there are calls for greater language rights – worrying that this might be <a href="https://unpo.org/article/9274" target="_blank">another pretext</a> for foreign intervention.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The Islamic Republic is not a country that’s generally tolerant of opposition demonstrations, and its 2006 <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/iran-continuing-crackdown-against-peaceful-critics" target="_blank">crackdowns </a>against the “cartoon protesters” were indeed a dreadful over-reaction. However, a few years later – with Obama in the White House and international tensions slightly easing – a <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/Irans_Ethnic_Azeris_And_The_Language_Question/2103609.html" target="_blank">2010 report for Radio Free Europe</a> suggested that only a small minority of Azerbaijani-Turks were then concerned about the status of their language provision in Iran. Indeed, several worried that if their children were educated primarily in Azerbaijani, this might undercut their chances of future success in a society where speaking Persian is a prerequisite.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since Trump’s unilateral cancellation of the Iran nuclear deal and imposition of harsh international sanctions, tensions with and within Iran have risen again.</div><br /><b>Enter Tractor Football Club<br /></b><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As Dr. Brenda Shaffer has written in her 2020 monograph, <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/04/28/iran-is-more-than-persia/" target="_blank">Iran is More than Persia</a>, since Iran “does not allow explicit ethnically based political organizations, parties, or activity… non-political arenas, such as sport and environmental activity, serve as surrogates for political fora.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This brings us back to Tractor FC. The <a href="http://www.tractor-club.com/">football club</a> was founded in 1970 at an actual tractor plant in Tabriz. Currently playing in Iran's top soccer league, the team has gained international attention in recent years by reaching the group stages of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_AFC_Champions_League" target="_blank">AFC Champions League</a> in 2013 and being briefly coached in 2018 by 1970s hero of Wales and Liverpool, <a href="https://en.mehrnews.com/news/134636/John-Toshack-joins-Iran-s-Tractor-Sazi-FC-as-head-coach" target="_blank">John Toshack</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptjaHfHwXHvYDa6cpwzA3Tv1t6yTbeoLA8i5yYKDDC0YwcuXjJPUBDYGCaE6qHWhx9UiAzcNvEmbYo0jJCGazYXAd1Tk8Wd1A-NxejUFdmDG66VrbHT98iVO49qAAueucmX3xTtRlc6o/s840/Tabriz_Stadium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptjaHfHwXHvYDa6cpwzA3Tv1t6yTbeoLA8i5yYKDDC0YwcuXjJPUBDYGCaE6qHWhx9UiAzcNvEmbYo0jJCGazYXAd1Tk8Wd1A-NxejUFdmDG66VrbHT98iVO49qAAueucmX3xTtRlc6o/w540-h267/Tabriz_Stadium.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;">At the Sahand Stadium in Tabriz, the seats are packed with red jerseys of Tractor FC supporters. Image: Arezamm/<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Yadegar_Emam.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Tractor matches tend to attract a steady attendance of around 60,000 fans. While gathered together, those fans often seem to find courage in such large numbers to voice their otherwise silenced opinions and discontents while sharing in a sense of mutual solidarity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />YouTube videos of fans at the games, like the one described at the start of this article, often appear to be displays of Azerbaijani Turk unity. The slogans are varied and often creative. Overtly political <a href="https://www.silkroadstudies.org/resources/pdf/SilkRoadPapers/2017-souleimanov-kraus-irans-azerbaijan-question-in-evolution.pdf" target="_blank">examples</a> include:<br /><br />“All people have the right to study in their own language.”<br />“Down with Persian fascism.”<br />“Long live a free Azerbaijan.”<br />“We are proud to be Turks.”<br /><br />And yes, their games are generally broadcast on state television, though at one match back in November 2017, the TV provider<a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/04/28/iran-is-more-than-persia/" target="_blank"> reportedly cut the feed</a> when anti-regime fans started vocally chanting “death to Khamenei.”<br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_xcIlmQCdL0f9S3oUL2kTTUxojeXLfMevJU779BmMC9aiRs4ZK0HxlMj2aO9pcFEhxwvhxcusOIAYIw1jsBSEqN7u8aDekczBiqD3TbJI_nps_Mqi9-AOm3IrXrtqUFq6Eog5_nnCK0/s854/Turks_Iran_Azerbaijan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="854" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_xcIlmQCdL0f9S3oUL2kTTUxojeXLfMevJU779BmMC9aiRs4ZK0HxlMj2aO9pcFEhxwvhxcusOIAYIw1jsBSEqN7u8aDekczBiqD3TbJI_nps_Mqi9-AOm3IrXrtqUFq6Eog5_nnCK0/w540-h267/Turks_Iran_Azerbaijan.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">Tractor fans use the safe evironment of the football games to peacefully protest and demonstrate. Image: </span><a href="https://www.azev.se/en/2018/12/31/southern-azerbaijan-is-a-region-in-northwest-iran/" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">azev.se</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><br style="text-align: center;" /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Personal favourites are slogans having to do with women’s rights. According to Brenda Shaffer’s <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/04/28/iran-is-more-than-persia/" target="_blank">report (p31)</a>, fans have been heard to sing:<br /><br />“Oh my mother, sister and wife.<br />You are ladies! Men and women are equal.<br />Attending in community is your natural right.<br />Turk ladies, rise and get your rights!”<br /><br />It’s hard to imagine Manchester United fans getting all that polite feminism into a football song. Meanwhile, direct personal accounts suggest that many women attend the matches (officially male-only domains) by dressing as men. I wonder how they feel when hearing another off-beat chant: “Turk’s girls are the stars of the skies!”<br /><br />It doesn’t stop at chanting and banners. With 677,000 followers on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tractorclub1970/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and 72,000 on <a href="https://twitter.com/TractorOfficial" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, Tractor’s social media following has the potential to mobilize demonstrations and activism. Posts to these platforms written in Azerbaijani Turkish have been seen as an informal organization of Azerbaijani Turks, and the accounts are full of ethno-nationalism. However, the authorities may have finally learned that it’s better, in the long run, to allow folks to let off steam and share their opinions.<br /><br />The club’s giant Sahand Stadium sits beyond the southern fringes of Tabriz, in the mouth of a stark mountain valley. Dr. Shaffer notes wryly that the deputy chief of security in East Azerbaijan province had reportedly said of Tractor’s boisterous fans: “Let them shout all they want in the stadium outside the city and return quiet.”</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><a href="https://caspianpost.com/en/post/perspectives/how-a-soccer-team-is-amplifying-the-voices-of-azerbaijani-turks-in-iran#_ftnref1" target="_blank">[1]</a> The piece was titled “<a href="https://www.sorgulamazamani.com/en/makale/cagin-akisinda/241/the-egalitarian-uprising-of-the-turks-in-iran-may-2006/#.YQHKM-hKhnJ" target="_blank">How to Stop the Cockroaches from Making Us into Cockroaches</a>”. As the reader continues down the page it becomes increasing clear that “cockroach” is a euphemism for “Azerbaijani Turk”. Having discussed creative ways to destroy cockroaches, the most eye-brow raising moment comes when a Persian boy is pictured before the insect, repeating the word “cockroach” in different ways, presumably trying to teach a cockroach its own name. The cockroach, seated at a tiny desk, throws up its “hands,” and says “what?!” in Azerbaijani-Turkish.</div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-13278547974684870482021-08-07T10:43:00.008-07:002023-05-01T18:42:03.392-07:00Fußball im Iran: Rassismus gegen Minderheiten<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/dradio/2021/06/13/denkfabrik_auf_der_suche_nach_dem_wir_der_iran_und_die_dlf_20210613_1935_0ba78ead.mp3" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="34" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpd_ZXYLoT3XuA2sQlGvqFqe0KEGXf9d-508qzbCXP2WtrG8DngB7bNwXj4XlomBbyL1OSqkjXA_q6hbjZ9RJ3HeayiOSP6PjqXFRAwJNOU_nL2xvlQRcEdBMNccqrpsibzUwIqLHKqg/w34-h34/Sound-icon.jpg" width="34" /></a></div><span face=""Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 15px;"><b>Der Iran steht vor Präsidentschaftswahlen. Auch der Nachfolger von Hassan Rohani wird wahrscheinlich den persisch-nationalistischen Kurs fortsetzen. Doch darunter leiden etliche Minderheiten. Deutlich wird das auch im Fußball.</b><br /><br /></span><span face=""Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic;">Von Ronny Blaschke - </span><span face="Graphik Web, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i>Deutschlandfunk - Dlf <br /></i></span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Graphik Web, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/der-sport-auf-der-suche-nach-dem-wir-7-fussball-im-iran.1346.de.html?dram:article_id=498758" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="755" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXLM596PC8IFp2qiv7JIuwrs5ZyyUHtZFhJytOF-1wWfU87Wn8e66h439NdA8wqDfTg0H30C2y7uOLfq_u_B2C_UEg2-am5PN_RcQC01aexW5TvZafgmUk8pWkB8kW1WyxLWKo3yiy1s/w532-h314/TractorFC.jpg" width="532" /></a></span></div><span face="Graphik Web, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="box-sizing: content-box; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 25px; margin: 1em auto; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px 20px;">Rund zwanzig Prozent der Iraner haben einen aserbaidschanischen Hintergrund, vor allem im Nordwesten des Landes. Es ist die größte der so genannten turksprachigen Minderheiten. Viele sind stolze Anhänger des Fußballklubs Tractor in Täbris. Die Stadt ist eines der wichtigsten kulturellen Zentren der aserbaidschanischen Iraner.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Anfang 2020 spielt Tractor in der Hauptstadt Teheran gegen den Meister Persepolis. In den sozialen Medien kursiert damals ein Video: Junge Männer malträtieren einen Spielzeugesel. Seit Jahrzehnten werden Tractor-Anhänger besonders in Teheran als Esel bezeichnet, erzählt der iranischstämmige Publizist Behrang Samsami: „Die Kontinuität besteht darin, dass man alles Nicht-Persische unterdrücken will. Weil man eben diese chauvinistische, nationalistische Meinung vertritt, dass das Persische höherwertiger ist. Das soll sich halt auch im Fußball zeigen. Es ist so, dass die nicht-persischen Ethnien eben nicht die Möglichkeit haben wie die persische Bevölkerung, ihre Sprachen und Kulturen auszuleben.“</p><h2 style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 25.6px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Fangesänge für Klimaschutz</h2><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Behrang Samsami hat über den Verein Tractor im vergangenen Jahr einen ganzseitigen Artikel für die Frankfurter Allgemeine geschrieben. Er beleuchtet darin, wie der Rassismus im Iran über Generationen gewachsen ist: Schon das Regime von Reza Schah Pahlavi orientiert sich ab den 1920er Jahren an den Traditionen des antiken Perserreiches. Ethnische Gruppen wie Kurden, Araber oder Turkmenen klagen über Ausgrenzung. Viele werden zur Assimilation gedrängt.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Die Islamische Revolution 1979 will mit dem Schah brechen – allerdings nicht bei allen Themen, sagt der Soziologe Vahid Qarabagli: „Fast dreißig Prozent der iranischen Bevölkerung sprechen Türkisch. Doch in offiziellen Reden werden sie häufig als rückwärtsgewandt dargestellt. Als Menschen, die keine wahren Iraner sind. Das Regime betrachtet ethnische Vielfalt als Bedrohung für die Sicherheit. Deutlich wird diese Haltung durch rassistische Fangesänge in der Hauptstadt Teheran. Auf diese Weise werden turksprachige Iraner entmenschlicht.“<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Vahid Qarabagli möchte seinen richtigen Namen nicht nennen. Als Student und Menschenrechtler ist er 2007 in die Türkei geflohen, inzwischen forscht er im kanadischen Vancouver. Seine Familie lebt im aserbaidschanisch geprägten Teil des Iran. Qarabagli hält Kontakte zu Journalisten, Anwälten und Aktivisten. Möglichkeiten für Proteste haben sie kaum, sagt Qarabagli, doch es gibt Ausnahmen: „Stadien sind soziale Treffpunkte. Gerade Tractor bietet der unterdrückten Zivilgesellschaft eine Möglichkeit. Während der Spiele fordern einige Fans die Freilassung von politischen Gefangenen. Manchmal geht es in den Gesängen um soziale und klimapolitische Themen. Zum Beispiel um den Urmiasee, der von der Austrocknung bedroht ist. Die Regierung kann Fans für Proteste jederzeit festnehmen.“</p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Die Anhänger von Tractor protestieren mitunter gegen das Besuchsverbot für Frauen in Stadien. Oder sie provozieren: Bezeichnen den Persischen Golf als Arabischen Golf. Oder besingen Baku und Ankara, die Hauptstädte von Aserbaidschan und der Türkei, schreibt der Soziologe Qarabagli in einem Aufsatz.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 25.6px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Rassismus wird kaum thematisiert</h2><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Der Iran durchlebt seit der Verschärfung der US-Sanktionen 2018 eine Wirtschaftskrise, verschlimmert durch die Corona-Pandemie. Viele Iraner erwarten Reformen, stattdessen werden sie unterdrückt, sagt Bijan Djir-Sarai, außenpolitischer Sprecher der FDP-Fraktion im Bundestag: „Im Grund genommen gibt es keine Perspektive für die Menschen. Und das führt dazu, dass die Unzufriedenheit steigt, gerade in bestimmten Regionen, wo man auch glaubt, dass die Zentralregierung weit weg ist. Es gibt ja beispielsweise die Azeri im Norden. Auch die denken: Wir könnten ein besseres Leben haben. Wenn die sich den aserbaidschanischen Staat anschauen. Dort gibt es auch keine Freiheit. Aber wenn man sieht, was dort für wirtschaftliche Möglichkeiten existieren, dann fragt man sich dann schon: Ist das denn richtig, wo wir hier sind?“<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: "Graphik Web", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;">Im Jahr 2010 schrieben mehr als vierzig Wissenschaftler, Journalisten und Aktivisten einen offenen Brief an den damaligen Fifa-Präsidenten Sepp Blatter. Und forderten Sanktionen für Rassismus im Umfeld von Tractor Täbris. Das Antirassismusnetzwerk Fare nahm die Anfeindungen 2017 in ein Handbuch über Diskriminierungen auf. Doch darüber hinaus passiere wenig, sagt Bijan Djir-Sarai, der seine Kindheit im Iran verbracht hat. Und er blickt auf andere Minderheiten: „Wer zur jüdischen Community gehört im Iran, der steht permanent mehr oder weniger unter Spionageverdacht. Da wird sehr genau geachtet, was machen die im Iran. Wenn sie im Ausland sind: Reisen die nach Israel, ja oder nein, welche Kontakte gibt es dort? Und wenn ich mir das Bildungssystem insgesamt anschaue, wird das aus meiner Sicht an keiner Stelle thematisiert, dass diese Minderheiten in der Form existieren.“</p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 15px 0px;"><span face="Graphik Web, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Auch andere Minderheiten im Iran vernetzen sich im Fußball. Der erfolgreichste Klub aber bleibt Tractor Täbris, gegründet 1970 von einem Traktorenhersteller. In mehr als fünfzig Jahren ist Tractor noch nie iranischer Meister geworden. Und viele Fans vermuten, dass das Regime das auch in Zukunft nicht zulassen wird.</span></span><br /><br /><span face="Graphik Web, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/der-sport-auf-der-suche-nach-dem-wir-7-fussball-im-iran.1346.de.html?dram:article_id=498758 </span></p><p></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-39151672048218184112021-08-07T10:13:00.003-07:002021-08-07T10:17:11.317-07:00IRAN: DEFENDER BEATEN AND DENIED HEALTH CARE: ALIREZA FARSHI DIZAJYEKAN<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1344842021ENGLISH.pdf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAeDj0l9rAIhVL3xKQj1gGG3-9bzUDk5vWPS87bgyvqG4wrcYBQFMz_oVWtRP5ozdaF0LbwMeOZljoYEihGLY7gdwId720yRGablJDdAZOZ7fAINrlqPbmUzFOLXiSCk-ER2ESPufG18/s320/Farshi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p></p><p class="meta" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); border-top: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1.71429rem 0px; padding: 0.57143rem 0px;"><time datetime="2021-07-20T00:00:00" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; display: inline-block;">20 July 2021</time>, Index number: MDE 13/4484/2021</p><div class="wysiwyg" lang="en" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem;">Azerbaijani Turk human rights defender Alireza Farshi DizajYekan is arbitrarily detained in Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary for advocating for mother tongue rights, posting online about imprisoned activists and other peaceful activities. The Iranian authorities are denying him access to the health care he needs, including for his eye condition and high blood sugar. 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box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 0.07143rem; padding-left: 0.85714rem; width: 409.542px;"><a class="btn--input" data-download-submit="" href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1344842021ENGLISH.pdf" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; appearance: none; background-color: yellow; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 0); color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; font-size: 1.143rem; line-height: 1.1; outline: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem 1.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s, border-color 0.25s ease 0s, color 0.25s ease 0s; white-space: nowrap;">DOWNLOAD PDF</a></div></div><aside style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: sans-serif;"><h2 class="heading--h6 heading--spacer-with-sub-heading" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.02rem; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0.85714rem; margin-top: 1.71429rem;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Topics</span></h2><ul class="tags" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?country=38533" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">IRAN</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1600" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">CENSORSHIP AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1614" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1606" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">UNFAIR TRIALS</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1604" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">JUSTICE SYSTEMS</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=54747" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1626" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AND ACTIVISTS</span></a></li></ul></aside>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-90643754479177475482021-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:002022-04-27T11:41:21.596-07:00Iranian father struggling to name daughter in Turkish<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Families can only give their children names listed by the Islamic Republic </span><br /><br />Mustafa Melih Ahishali - Anadolu Agency | 26.01.2021<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzEK19SvUBNVaxftcndE-sDYk4co3hN-r6ZP52Hovo9yA_MmEL0KI7SXoGyGv0NH5na2i3Ge0cnqHZYTdtxAJoP3ir8Y8UyZaji6obkk9LqArab_hZNGlXLCjXmRVQj3w6WOoaDCf3bfKxB5GcW5sCKH3KgGFLYbrfrteXGwH420GrB45l5uppEnp/s864/Seccad%20Colani_Family.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="864" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzEK19SvUBNVaxftcndE-sDYk4co3hN-r6ZP52Hovo9yA_MmEL0KI7SXoGyGv0NH5na2i3Ge0cnqHZYTdtxAJoP3ir8Y8UyZaji6obkk9LqArab_hZNGlXLCjXmRVQj3w6WOoaDCf3bfKxB5GcW5sCKH3KgGFLYbrfrteXGwH420GrB45l5uppEnp/s320/Seccad%20Colani_Family.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><br />An Azerbaijani Turk family in Iran has been struggling for months to name their daughter.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">“We wanted to name our daughter 'Ayıl', which means 'awakening' and 'revival' in Azerbaijani Turkish. The birth registration office, however, does not accept the name, saying it is not in their list," Seccad Colani in Iran’s northwestern Ardabil province told <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/iranian-father-struggling-to-name-daughter-in-turkish/2123569" target="_blank">Anadolu Agency</a>. "My daughter is now 7 months old."</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Unless special permission is granted, families in the Islamic Republic can only give their children one of the names in the list determined by the state. The inventory has a limited number of Turkish names.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">“It's not just a matter of naming, but a matter of rights and identity. We want to give our children Turkish names that reflect our culture and preferences,” the 34-year-old visually impaired street musician said.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">He lamented that because of no ID card, his daughter is not eligible for health care benefits. “My daughter underwent cataract operation three times. Our financial means are limited, we cannot afford hospital expenses,” Colani explained.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: GothamNarrow-Book; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">He said he even contacted the Tehran population directorate but to no avail. <br /></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-35520645842223478982020-12-30T20:02:00.006-08:002021-08-07T10:19:32.509-07:00 Iran: Activist's Sentence Increased to 15 years: Abbas Lesani <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/3130/2020/en/#:~:text=Azerbaijani%20Turkic%20activist%2C%20Abbas%20Lesani,after%20a%20grossly%20unfair%20trial.&text=In%20July%202020%2C%20the%20Supreme,request%20for%20a%20judicial%20review." style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanYwVrUMbCz8AmIHV0LqXG9cYQLs4Zx5Ttn-uAlQQQUQ7A-7G39DzW-JSYUXTcDqF94ySFYS2UznrU9e029RHTc7f5SwvfJr6w_5q1U5-X4iG3Zj1e01pBYlk2V4sTlGrNYgqHe268lU/w400-h400/Abbas_Lisani.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="meta" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); border-top: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1.71429rem 0px; padding: 0.57143rem 0px;"><time datetime="2020-10-14T00:00:00" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; display: inline-block;">14 October 2020</time>, Index number: MDE 13/3130/2020</p><div class="wysiwyg" lang="en" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; margin: 0px 0px 1.71429rem;">Azerbaijani Turk activist, Abbas Lesani, arbitrarily imprisoned in Ardabil prison, Ardabil province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by an appeal court after a grossly unfair trial. The appeal proceedings were presided over by a judge who had filed the charges against him in his previous capacity as prosecutor. In July 2020, the Supreme Court rejected his request for a judicial review.</p></div><h2 class="heading--h6" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.02rem; line-height: 1.1;"><span style="font-size: small;">Choose a language to view report</span></h2><div class="grid" data-download-component="" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: sans-serif; margin-left: -0.85714rem;"><div class="col--stacked col--1/2--md" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 0.85714rem; min-height: 0.07143rem; padding-left: 0.85714rem; width: 409.542px;"><div class="custom-select" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; border: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); min-width: 9.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><select data-download-select="" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; appearance: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.85714rem 2.42857rem 0.85714rem 0.71429rem; position: relative; width: 395.552px;"> <option disabled="disabled" selected="selected" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="">Choose language</option> <option style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="/download/Documents/MDE1331302020TURKISH.PDF"> Turkish </option> <option style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="/download/Documents/MDE1331302020PERSIAN.PDF"> Persian </option> <option selected=""selected"" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="/download/Documents/MDE1331302020ENGLISH.pdf"> English </option> <option style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="/download/Documents/MDE1331302020SPANISH.pdf"> Spanish </option> <option style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;" value="/download/Documents/MDE1331302020FRENCH.pdf"> French </option> </select></div></div><div class="col col--1/2--md" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 0.07143rem; padding-left: 0.85714rem; width: 409.542px;"><a class="btn--input" data-download-submit="" href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1331302020ENGLISH.pdf" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; appearance: none; background-color: yellow; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 0); color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 1.1; outline: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem 1.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s, border-color 0.25s ease 0s, color 0.25s ease 0s; white-space: nowrap;">DOWNLOAD PDF</a></div></div><aside style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: sans-serif;"><h2 class="heading--h6 heading--spacer-with-sub-heading" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.02rem; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0.85714rem; margin-top: 1.71429rem;"><span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Topics</span></span></h2><ul class="tags" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?country=38533" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">IRAN</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?country=38526" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1584" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DETENTION</span></a></li><li class="tags__item" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; float: left; font-family: TradeGothicLT-BoldCondTwenty, HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: "kern"; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 0.85; margin: 0px 1.71429rem 0.85714rem 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="tags__link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/search/?issue=1606" rel="tag" style="-webkit-print-color-adjust: exact; background-color: #f7f7f7; color: black; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; padding: 0.71429rem; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">UNFAIR TRIA</span></a></li></ul></aside>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-57827523897923360072020-08-24T14:15:00.005-07:002020-08-24T14:19:55.574-07:00The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U0EAjwd2zUg" width="550" youtube-src-id="U0EAjwd2zUg"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaker: Reza Zia-Ebrahimi </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reza Zia-Ebrahimi discusses the origins of racial forms of Iranian nationalism by revisiting the work of Fath’ali Akhundzadeh and Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani, two Qajar-era intellectuals. In their efforts to make sense of Iran's shortcomings in the nineteenth century, these thinkers advanced an ideology Zia-Ebrahimi terms as "dislocative nationalism," in which pre-Islamic Iran is cast as a golden age, Islam is reinterpreted as an alien religion, and Arabs are represented as implacable others. Dislodging Iran from its empirical reality and tying it to Europe and the Aryan race, this ideology remains the most politically potent form of identity in Iran. Zia-Ebrahimi highlights Akhundzadeh and Kermani's nationalist reading of Iranian history that has been drilled into the minds of Iranians since its adoption by the Pahlavi state in the early twentieth century. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reza Zia-Ebrahimi is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in History at King’s College London. He was born in Iran and grew up in Switzerland before being naturalized a Londoner. He completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) in what is still nostalgically called ‘Oriental Studies’. His research lies at the intersection of modern world history and ethnic studies, and he has widely published on Iranian articulations of nationalism. He currently works on a diachronic history of modern antisemitism and Islamophobia in Western Europe, with particular focus on the interlinkages between conspiracy theories and ideas of race.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0EAjwd2zUg" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-decoration, none);">Stanford Iranian Studies Program</a></div></div><p></p>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-23102741292448294072020-08-23T21:19:00.009-07:002020-08-24T13:19:13.396-07:00Reza Baraheni on his encounter with first language education and struggle for linguistic justice in Iran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKt0WRbA_yyi1WgCHCUJ5W404MWuy13VplQM2Jsvd6_5hUErswYCtPODJnf-omAmbFgBpiUF01v4wXelKgVlYBZqS0wKwlGb1cHLG59xtDsUhlRgFkhR4abvx-mghw8cyLlxCatHi5YQ/s563/Baraheni.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="563" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKt0WRbA_yyi1WgCHCUJ5W404MWuy13VplQM2Jsvd6_5hUErswYCtPODJnf-omAmbFgBpiUF01v4wXelKgVlYBZqS0wKwlGb1cHLG59xtDsUhlRgFkhR4abvx-mghw8cyLlxCatHi5YQ/w450-h320/Baraheni.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br />I went to school in Iran. My mother was a villager; my father was a worker. I was sent to school by a philanthropist man who paid for my schooling, mine and my brother's.<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I went to school in that way up until 14. I did not know any Persian because I was studying everything in Turkish. In those days, the northern part of the country was occupied by the Russians, but there was also, right after they left or at the same time that they were leaving, an indigenous government in Azerbaijan, which was a Turkish-speaking government.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Whatever might be said about that government, I think that one thing should be said for sure. There was nothing wrong with that government. I was a child, and the freest child-that is the only 11 or 12 months in my life I have been free. Later this government was overthrown by the Shah; then we have to study everything in Persian.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">....</div><p></p><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">In my writings I asked for linguistic and cultural autonomy for the Turkish people of Azerbaijan in Iran, because they have an identity of their own, they have a distinct culture that is Azerbaijani, their language is Turkish, just as the Kurds have their own language, their own culture, and I asked for autonomy for these people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think it is their constitutional right to have their cultural autonomy. I still ask the same for these repressed nationalities- I never advocated any form of separatism, or any form of secession. Historically, I am after self-determination for my people, but this is not secession. <br /><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: start;">Source: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: start;" /><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: start;">United States. Congress. House. Committee on International Relations. Subcommittee on International Organizations. (1976). </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: start;">Human rights in Iran: hearings before the subcommittee on international organizations of the committee on international relations, house of representatives, ninety-fourth congress, second session, August 3 and September 8, 1976</i><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: start;">. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.</span><br /><br /></div></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7058170938849460559.post-50800774900899507532020-08-23T20:20:00.021-07:002022-03-25T11:11:22.475-07:00Excerpts From a Speech by Reza Baraheni<p><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWx6RCEsemxiUWjzJe3GxP_-dds-RBj_7dde_tw42z7RzID4nl70AV4-nqEA_hmdtw0tsXwZ6MgR8IpMREFnWYCRt8JftNukVLYVn-eCi_zZM7R8xummM55F9Y86LmgFEraMFfrC8YlDsjRwCRW-0xPgZ7nZdxjgXheECCk1T39NpfZ-gukGmnLc2U/s512/Reza%20Baraheni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="512" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWx6RCEsemxiUWjzJe3GxP_-dds-RBj_7dde_tw42z7RzID4nl70AV4-nqEA_hmdtw0tsXwZ6MgR8IpMREFnWYCRt8JftNukVLYVn-eCi_zZM7R8xummM55F9Y86LmgFEraMFfrC8YlDsjRwCRW-0xPgZ7nZdxjgXheECCk1T39NpfZ-gukGmnLc2U/w400-h274/Reza%20Baraheni.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />May 25, 1976<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Reza Baraheni, Iran's most prominent modern poet and literary critic, spoke February 26 at a meeting in defense of Iranian political prisoners. The meeting, held at Columbia University in New York and attended by 300 persons, was sponsored by the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom in Iran [CAIFI].</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Baraheni, who is currently living in exile, spent 102 days in the shah's prisons in 1973. He was released as a result of protests from groups such as Amnesty International, the international association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists [PEN] and CAIFI.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The following are major excerpts from Bahareni's speech.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The most vigorous and hopeful period of the life of my own generation was from 1941 to 1953. I took part in all sorts of associations created for teenagers, read all sorts of books in Persian and Turkish, and looked hopefully towards the future.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Having been born to a poor family, I didn't feel that I was poor. The whole wealth of the world could be mine if I wanted.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To write your first poem in your mother tongue, and to read it to a mother who understands no other language; to take that poem to school and read it to the kids and have it published in the school paper and hear your words being read by others in your own language; to recite it to the peasants in their huts, the workers in the factory, to the businessmen in the bazaars, and see they don't need translators to understand the meaning of your simple syllables! What richness! What riches!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And then someone puts a bayonet at your throat and tells you to forget about your mother tongue, tells a whole people to forget about their language and speak in the language ordained by the bayonet. Someone appoints himself the patron of your throat and tells you your language is filthy, it is no good, speak in mine. Someone forces you to change the form of your throat, jaws and lips, the rhythm of teeth and cheeks, and tells you to imitate his jaws and cheeks and lips and teeth. Oh! Oppressors and tyrants and shahs, my curse on you!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh! Racists! I spit on you!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The defeat of the Democratic party of Azerbaijan and also the Kurdish Republic of Kurdistan at the hands of the Iranian government in 1946 was a great setback for the national liberation movements in the area.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The reaction was checked during Dr. Mossadegh's premiership (1951-53), when the mass movement gained momentum once more around the issue of nationalizing the foreign oil monopolies. But the CIA moved in and mobilized all the reactionaries, the fascists of the Reza Shah era, and the coup of 1953 put an end to democracy.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hundreds of people were arrested and shot right after the coup. Then there came months during which everyone in Tehran could actually hear in the morning the country's young men being shot. These were the country's most precious men. But even these shootings were not enough.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A system had to be created for the brutal suppression of dissent in the country. Suppression had to be systematic, otherwise it would not work. The CIA created Iran's secret police, the SAVAK, in 1956.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">From 1958 to 1963, there were still demonstrations in the streets of Tehran reminiscent of the pre-coup period. Student strikes had to be crushed by commandos from the Iranian Army Special Forces, which were trained by American military men.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The year 1963 witnessed the mass murder of more than 6000 men and women in the streets of Tehran and other cities in a single day. From then on, the country was submerged in a total blackout.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No appointment can be made in the universities, in the ministries, or in the factories without the approval of SAVAK. Anyone who arrives in the country after finishing his studies abroad and applies for work in the universities is kept under complete surveillance for one year. He is considered an enemy of the shah until he proves through his actions that he is a nobody and that he doesn't really care what happens to the people of his country.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SAVAK trains its agents on the assumption that everyone in Iran is a potential or active member of the opposition. There is only one way for people to prove their innocence. They have to be tracked down, blindfolded, and taken to one of the hundreds of SAVAK stations scattered around the country, or to one of the dozens and dozens of prisons in the major cities, and interrogated under torture.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Iranian political prisoner knows nothing about his future, and when the questions are put to him he will find that he hardly knows anything about his past either. He will feel suspicious of his closest friends and relatives. He will suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and say: "I know, it was my fiancee who told them that I read Maxim Gorky's Mother."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You may think I am joking, but be sure to check it with others who have been in an Iranian prison. They will tell you that you get at least one year in prison if you possess a copy of Gorky's Mother or any one of Jack London's novels. Since Lenin read Jack London novels, no one in Iran should read them. They may suddenly decide to become Lenin, and that on the basis of reading three novels.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The prisoner searches in vain for the reasons for his arrest and torture. The more he thinks, the more suspicious he becomes of his friends. When he comes out, he decides, he won't talk to anyone. He will live alone, speak about nothing. Later, he will even lose the habit of thinking. That is how you keep another nation an ally of the West.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The number of people killed under torture or by firing squads during the last six years in Iran--this so-called island of stability--is much higher than all the men and women killed in calamity-ridden Ireland. Where are the bodies of our young men and women?</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You should ask the cannibal, the arch-cannibal, his imperial majesty, the shah of shahs, the Light of the Aryans. Or you should ask Kim Roosevelt, the former CIA agent who has now become a go-between in the sale of arms to the shah.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The CIA crowned a cannibal as the king of kings for our country. Ask the head hidden under the crown. That divine head is nothing but a cannibal's head. The cannibal with a machine gun, the cannibal with a whip, the cannibal with an iron mesh heating your bottom and spine until you vomit your brains out--yes, this cannibal is here.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;">If, as </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;">Nation</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"> magazine suggests, "A covert Iranian contribution to Nixon's election campaign" was made by the shah, then the cannibal was here four years ago.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We know that he has been here for some time now. The cannibal has bought courses on atomic reactors at MIT. Wayne O'Neil, the head of the English department there, has called him the shah of MIT.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The cannibal is also the shah of UCLA and Harvard. He has also passed through Columbia; and the Pahlavi Foundation, the center of Iranian espionage in this country, stands right here in New York. The cannibal tempts everybody in the name of free enterprise.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I cannot contribute to developing a guilty conscience in you, because the guilty conscience is already there. I can only say that your government created and supported the cannibal. Now, the cannibal thinks if he is good for the Iranians he must be good for the Americans too. In this bicentennial year, of all years in your history, you should be conscious of the existence of this U.S.-crowned cannibal.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1976/5/25/feeding-the-cannibal-excerpts-from-a/ " style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1976/5/25/feeding-the-cannibal-excerpts-from-a/ </span></a></div>South Azerbaijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322791530628793689noreply@blogger.com0