Iran is home to many diverse ethnic groups. Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Balochis, Turkmen and others have been living side-by-side for centuries in an ancient nation. Persians and Azeris, the two largest ethnic groups in Iran, share the same Shi’a Islam faith. Iran is also home to many Sunni Muslims, as well as Christians, Jews, Bahai’is and Zoroastrians. Azeris primarily live in the northwestern part of the country and in the capital city of Tehran. However there are Azeri neighborhoods or communities in many other parts of Iran. Their language, Azeri Turkish, is their most important difference with Persians. Nowadays most Azeris also speak Farsi; however, many do so with a distinct accent which reveals their ethnic background. Azeri culture, especially in music and dance, also differentiates them from other ethnicities in Iran.
Since UNESCO declared February 21
st International Mother Languages Day in 1999, Iranian Azeris have tried to celebrate the day in whatever way possible. This year Azeri and Kurdish students at the University of Tehran celebrated the day with a peaceful rally on campus, holding placards demanding their right to be educated in their own language. Surprisingly, Iran’s official news agency (IRNA) covered the event in its Persian edition with pictures from the event. In the Azerbaijan provinces of Iran, however, massive deployment of security and intelligence agents on the streets prevented the celebration from taking place. The following day during a soccer match in Takhty stadium in Tabriz, Azeri activists cheered for the local team and also chanted slogans like “Long Live Azerbaijan” and “Education in Mother Tongue for Everyone.” The Tabriz team won the game, and, when the fans came out of the stadium, an impromptu celebration of Mother Language Day began. Video footage of the event shot by video cell phones is widely available on the internet. The day was observed in other cities of Iranian Azerbaijan including Urmia, Ardabil, Zanjan, Naghadeh and Miyandoab. Many activists were arrested in these cities, but most of them were released after spending a few days at local detention centers. Following the arrests
Amnesty International issued a statement [link: [http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGMDE130202007] expressing concern over the situation of ethnic minorities in Iran.
In 2004, for the first time, a conference was organized to celebrate International Mother Language Day in Tabriz, Iran. A petition was sent to Iranian officials requesting permission to teach Azeri Turkish in the schools of Iranian Azerbaijan. Since then, every year Iranian Azeri activists face detention and beatings. Usually, a few days before February 21st, government authorities in various towns and cities in Azeri provinces detain activists and then release them on bail. The authorities warn them of severe consequences if they participate in any event celebrating Mother Language Day. Yet, every year, the activists manage to celebrate the day in various ways, usually by holding peaceful rallies in city centers and universities.
This year, Azeri activists have taken their cause into the international arena. Peaceful rallies were held throughout the world celebrating the UNESCO day. In Washington, D.C., local activists held a rally in front of U.S. Department of State, displaying placards and chanting: “U.S. Stop Ignoring Azeris in Iran,” “Iran is not just Persians,” “Education in Azeri for Azeris in Iran,” and “Chauvinism is not Democracy.” Demonstrators spoke with a representative of the State Department about the discrimination against Iranian Azeris and the abuse of Azeri human rights activists by the Islamic Republic.
Inside Iran, discrimination against Azeri language and culture persists in various forms. Azeri activists have criticized local and national media outlets because the poor quality of the Azeri language in these programs makes them unpopular in the region. Ethnic Azeri activists in Iran accuse the central government of forcing local radio and TV announcers to artificially mix Persian words into the broadcast, lowering the quality of the language. Use of literary Azeri in radio and TV programs and its teaching in schools is one of the major demands of activists in the region. Although the Iranian Constitution allows the use of local languages in schools and mass media, the central government refuses to implement such laws. It has forced the closing of private schools that teach Azeri and has shut down or forced into bankruptcy local or regional newspapers or magazines that publish articles in Azeri. Such publications are usually bi-lingual, Azeri and Farsi.
Despite their different language and culture, Azeris are well-integrated into Iranian society. There are many high-ranking government and military officials who are ethnic Azeris. Some of the most famous Iranians are Azeri, including singers Googoosh, Dariush, and Aref; actors Behrooz Vosughi and Naser Malek Motii; film directors Tahmineh Milani, Kamal Tabrizi, and Jaffar Panahi; world champion weight lifter Hossein Rezazadeh; and soccer star Ali Daei. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is an ethnic Azeri. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi is an Azeri from Hamadan. In addition to these well-known Iranian Azeris, the Iranian economy, specifically the Tehran bazaar, relies on many successful Azeri merchants. During the Shah's time, the majority of people serving in Iran’s armed forces, both soldiers and high ranking officials, were ethnic Azeris. Many of the Shah's Prime Ministers were Azeri. Azeri Turkish was frequently heard in the Shah’s palace. His mother, wife, and in-laws were all Azeri. His father Reza Shah was fluent in Azeri Turkish and spoke to Mustafa Kamal Ataturk in Turkish when he met him.
Iran has been ruled by many dynasties, some of them Turkic/Azeri. The last Azeri dynasty of Iran, the Qajar dynasty, ended in 1920, ushering in a period of ethnic struggle. When Reza Mirpanj, the first king of the Pahlavi dynasty, came to power in 1920, he started implementing a plan of unifying the country by imposing one official language (Farsi) and having a strong central government. He believed in uniting the country by eliminating diversity and promoting Persian supremacy. Non-Persians were encouraged to abandon their ethnic background and adopt the Persian language and culture. Resistance by ethnic Arabs living in Khuzestan and other provinces in the oil-rich southwest region was crushed. Mohammad Reza, the second king in Pahlavi dynasty, followed his father's policies. He encouraged Persians to move to the oil-rich southwest region of the country. Persian migrants were given lucrative jobs and loans t
In other parts of the country, Persian supremacy was promoted in other ways. In the case of the Azerbaijan region, many local Azeris were hired to serve in government positions. The price they had to pay was to keep silent about their Turkish/Azeri cultural heritage and speak Farsi in official ceremonies. Unlike Khuzestan, most local officials in Azerbaijan were ethnic Azeris. Prestigious and good-paying jobs were offered to Azeris who also spoke Persian. As the official language of the country, the Persian language was being promoted everywhere and at all levels. Azeri children were learning Farsi instead of the literary form of their mother tongue. Failing school and having to repeat an entire school year was common among Azeri students. Implementing “Persianization” was especially painful decades ago when TV or children’s books in Persian were not available. Poor school children could not receive help because their parents did not speak Persian either.
After the Islamic Revolution, imposing the Farsi language and Persian culture was temporarily put on hold. The early 1980s became a new era for flourishing Azeri language and culture. Numerous books, magazines, and newspapers were published in Azeri. Ashig music of Azerbaijan regained its prominence. Azeri poetry flourished. Azeri poets read their poems in poetry clubs, which appeared in universities, public libraries, and government offices. Local radio and TV stations in the Azerbaijan area started broadcasting in genuine literary Azeri. Newborn Azeri babies were given Azeri names. Many stores changed their names to Azeri names. However, after an initial consolidation of power by the Islamic government in Tehran, the crackdown on cultural activities of ethnic Azeris began and continues to this day. Azeri activists and intellectuals resist this policy while trying not to break any laws, although any unofficial rallies and gatherings are illegal.
Ethnic Azeris inside Iran, advocating for their cultural rights, use every opportunity to make their demands known. Resentment toward local and state authorities, who had persistently ignored Azeri demands for ethnic rights, finally erupted in mass rallies and riots in cities and towns of Iranian Azerbaijan in May 2006. For years, Azeri activists have gathered signatures to request that authorities implement cultural rights of ethnic Azeris guaranteed by the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. The text of these appeals was published by some local newspapers in Iranian Azerbaijan while major newspapers in Tehran refused to publish them. Iranian leaders and government agencies receiving the appeals have largely ignored them.
Azeris have also fought for their rights by officially taking on the central government. During the 1996 Parliamentary elections, Dr. Mahmoudali Chehregani, who advocated for cultural rights of Azeris, had won the first round of elections and was slated to become a representative in the Majles. He was forced to resign on the eve of the second round of elections, spurring protests in Tabriz. Later, Dr. Chehregani was held under house arrest and later sent to prison. His mistreatment caused a renewed wave of mistrust among Azeris, dashing their hopes of sending someone to Majles who can raise their issues and seek solutions to their problems.
The first round of the 2006 presidential elections in Iran was a good indication of self-awareness of voters in the Azerbaijan provinces. Mohsen Mehralizadeh, an ethnic Azeri candidate, received most of the votes in East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardabil provinces. Amadinejad, who won the presidential elections in the second round, did not do well in cities and town where ethnic Azeris constitute a majority. By voting for an ethnic Azeri in the first round of the elections, Azeri voters sent a message to the central government that they have their own issues and would prefer to have an ethnic Azeri as president of Iran.
The disruption and outright prevention of peaceful gatherings at Babak castle near the city of Kaleybar in the East Azerbaijan province also upset many Azeris. Babak Khorramdin was an Azeri warrior who fought against Arab invaders. He is a national hero for many Azeris. Azeri activists have made his birthday an unofficial holiday in Azerbaijan provinces. The gathering takes place during the first weekend in July closest to Babak’s birthday. Initially, the central government tolerated this gathering, but as the number of attendants grew each year (over 100,000 in 2004), the government sent tens of thousands of police, pasdar, and basiji forces to the castle. Today, the Iranian government arrests many Azeri activists before the weekend of the gathering and releases them the day after. This has been the practice in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In the summer of 2006, the central government started military exercises near Babak castle days before the gathering and blocked roads leading to the city of Kaleybar, effectively preventing the gathering from taking place.
Other actions of the Islamic Republic have increased mistrust between ethnic Azeris and the central government. One example is the naming of Ardabil province, which used to be part of the East Azerbaijan province. Although most Azeris did not mind splitting the East Azerbaijan province, they wanted the new province to include “Azerbaijan” in its name. The draft law on the province’s creation called the new province “East Azerbaijan” with its provincial capital in Ardabil, and naming the other part of the province, “Central Azerbaijan” with its provincial capital in Tabriz. To the dismay of Azeri lawmakers and Azeri-Iranians the new province was named Ardabil. Many Azeris viewed this as a deliberate attempt by the central government to make the areas that are officially called “Azerbaijan” even smaller. Astara and Hashtpar, cities which are currently part of the Gilan province, used to be part of East Azerbaijan and were added to Gilan province during the Pahlavi era. Similarly, the Khorasan province was divided into three provinces, though the new provinces kept “Khorasan” in their names and were called North Khorasan, South Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan provinces. Numerous appeals by Azeri activists to change the name of Ardabil province back to its original name of Azerbaijan have gone unanswered, which has increased suspicion regarding the intentions of the central government.
Mass rallies protesting the publication of a cartoon depicting Azeris as cockroaches by a government newspaper (called Iran) was the beginning of a new era in the struggle of ethnic Azeris for their cultural and political rights. The cartoon ignited resentment and anger that had accumulated over decades. Protests took place in cities and towns across the Azerbaijan region. Markets and stores were closed. Even the local Friday prayer imams and most government officials condemned the article in public and made their protests known to the central authorities. Initial rallies turned violent and caused damage to state and private property including offices of Iran newspaper and a radio and television station in Urmia, the capital of West Azerbaijan. However, even in counter-rallies organized by the government, the cartoon was condemned. The rallies in May 2006 raised self-awareness even among ethnic Azeris who, up to that point, had not cared deeply about cultural rights. The rallies became a source of pride among ethnic Azeris. Many activists who participated in protest rallies were arrested by the local authorities and later sentenced to long prison terms. Some were tortured during interrogations. Many international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, condemned the arrests and sent letters to Iranian authorities requesting the release of Azeri activists. However, many Iranian opposition groups chose to be silent about the mass rallies and the crackdown by Iranian government.
Lack of interest among Persian intellectuals on issues related to ethnic groups in general, and Azeris in particular, is of deep concern to ethnic Azeris in Iran. While Persian intellectuals talk at length about human rights and democracy, when it comes to ethnic rights of non-Persians in Iran, most of them believe that by keeping silent about this issue, it will go away. It would be naive to believe that the geopolitical situation of the region has not had any impact on Azeris and other ethnic groups in Iran. The future of Iran is as dependant on Persian intellectuals as ethnic rights activists. Though Persian intellectuals have begun to accept the realities of current day Iranian society, most consider ethnic rights a less relevant or even a taboo subject when discussing the future of Iran. Most Persian intellectuals acknowledge the existence of Azeris in Iran with their own distinct language and culture, however they do very little to promote it. Their lack of attention to this vital issue will, no doubt, further alienate ethnic Azeris.
