Dr. Asgharzadeh

Dr. Asgharzadeh

Earlier in my blog posts, I mentioned that I regretted not giving adequate coverage on civil rights and racism in Iran. Being that my own personal experiences are quite limited to the Persian community outside of Iran, I decided to go to an expert, if not the foremost expert on racism in Iran against Azerbaijanis, Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh.

Dr. Asgharzadeh holds a holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and currently a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at York University, Toronto, Canada. His areas of concentration and research include Globalization, Iranian Studies, Middle Eastern Cultures and Societies, Social Theory, the Sociology of Education, and Social Inequality, among others.  His work has been published in various journals, including: Middle East Review of International Affairs, Journal of Studies in International Education, Canadian and International Education, Language and Education, Journal of Educational Thought, Journal of Post-Colonial Education, Journal of African Studies, Anthropology and Education Quarterly.  His most recent book is Iran and the Challenge of Diversity: Aryanist Racism, Islamic Fundamentalism, and Democratic Struggles (This happens to be the book that I mentioned earlier that I was reading. I highly suggest it). He is also co-author of Schooling and Difference in Africa: Democratic Challenges in a Contemporary Context, and co-editor of Diasporic Ruptures: Globality, Migrancy,  and Expressions of Identity (in two volumes).  I’ve had the pleasure to talk to Dr. Asgharzadeh a few times and must note that he is truly an inspiring person and one of the most brilliant people that I have had ever met. Since he currently teaches in Toronto, I couldn’t get a chance to do a video interview, however I was able to communicate with him through e-mail. Since it’s quite long, I’ve broken it down. Here’s part 1 of our interview:

Me: First, if you would please introduce yourself, your profession, work and your background.

Dr Asgharzadeh: Generally, I consider myself a universal subject who has multiple identities and occupies multiple social and geographical locations: a world citizen, a Canadian, an Azerbaijani, an Iranian, a Turk, an Azeri-Canadian… As a young student I participated in Iran’s 1978-79 revolution. This revolution did not only transform the socio-political order in the country (for better or worse), it also fundamentally changed the way members of my generation thought about a variety of social, political, and cultural issues. I was simply fascinated by how ordinary people could bring down the most powerful institutions like the monarchy and the state in a society. Hence my interest in politics, social sciences, philosophy, etc. I have been passionately pursuing these interests ever since, and more academically since my arrival in Canada, from the late 1980s. I have studied political science, philosophy and sociology throughout my mature life, and now am teaching different aspects of these subjects at York University and the University of Toronto.

Me: Dr. Asgharzadeh, please describe the nature of racism in Iran, its history and who it affects.  Is racism in Iran an institution, or is it simply a societal flaw? Does racism serve as a tool of control?

Dr. Asgharzadeh: Well, in a nutshell, it all goes back to this Orientalist scholar named Sir William Jones and the observation that he made in 1786 regarding the affinity among various European languages, the Sanskrit and what he called in passing “the Old Persian.” In this brief speech to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Jones brought a fresh insight to the questions concerning the ancestral language of peoples of Europe and their original homeland, sparking a debate that eventually culminated in the creation of Comparative Linguistics and the Aryanist/Indo-Europeanist enterprise. This of course opened the floodgates for numerous European scholars, historians and philologists to try and establish a connection between White Europeans and the ancient East. Using mainly linguistic signs and traits, some of these scholars identified central Asia, some India, and some Iran as the original homeland of the white Nordic race, which later on came to be constructed as the infamous ‘Aryan race.’ A side from intellectual curiosity, the main objective for many Orientalists was to move ‘the white race’ as far away from Semitic races and Biblical traditions as possible. In Europe this enterprise reached its logical conclusion in fascism and Hitler’s Nazism. After Nazism, the Europeans became disillusioned with the entire enterprise of the so-called ‘Aryan race.’ Irrespective of this, the fascination with this illusory race continued in a different fashion in places like Iran and to some extent India, where certain groups saw an enormous opportunity in attaching themselves to this so-called ‘Aryan race’ and in identifying themselves as “Aryans.”

I should emphasize that William Jones and many of his contemporaries did not intend to purposely promote racism, anti-Semitism or fascism through their scholarship. They simply believed that they were engaged in scholarly research on Orient and the Orientals. The German scholar Max Muller had a major role in digging out the term “Arya” from ancient Sanskrit texts and redefining it, quite intentionally and erroneously, as a racial concept, as the name of a racial group. But he too came to his senses and quite vigorously repudiated this earlier conviction of his in 1888. Here is what he said in a book titled Biographies of words and the home of the Aryas:

“To me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar.” (1888, p. 120)

However, the Iranian elite, scholars and government were not ready to give up on this notion of “Aryan race” so easily, even after the fall of Nazism and Fascism in Europe. They built up on Max Muller and others’ earlier definitions and refashioned a definition of Arya as a purely racial group, building a whole new literature on “Aryan race” and how the true Iranians were carriers of this “superior race’s” not only language and culture but also genes and blood. This racist ideology, of course, had serious ramifications for Iran’s non-Persian and non-Indo-European communities, namely the Turks and the Semites (Arabs and Jews) along with others.

As you can imagine, this Iranian version of racialization was quite oxymoronic in the sense that in terms of skin color and physiology, the supposedly non-Aryan Turks and Semites had more resemblance to Hitler’s white-skinned, blue-eyed and blond-haired Aryans than the original Persians whom Hitler would probably classify under “the brown race” category. This simple discrepancy, however, did not stop our Persian Aryanists from advancing the strongest claims to “the superior Aryan race.” Logically, they didn’t (because they couldn’t) emphasize too heavily on “blood” and “skin color” the way Hitler did; they, however, placed a greater emphasis on “Persian language” and history–as if other people had no history and no language! In the Iranian reconstruction of Aryanist racism, then, the emphasis on “language” replaced the Nazist and Hitlerite emphasis on “blood” and “genes.”

In 1934, the Reza Shah government officially changed the name of the country from Mamalik-e Mahrouseh (protected countries) to Iran and defined it as “the land of Aryans.” Simultaneously the Persian ethnic group was singled out as the most authentic representative of these Aryans where the language of this group was seen as an Aryan- and hence superior- language, which was in turn translated into the banning of non-Persian languages from schools and government apparatuses. It is important to note that the term “Persia” was an Orientalist construct and has never been used by diverse ethnic groups to refer either to themselves or their country, neither historically nor currently.

In today’s Iran, just as throughout history, only the Persian ethnic group calls itself Persian. Irrespective of this, the Orientalist scholarship abroad still insists on calling all residents of Iran Persian, which is a clear case of epistemic violence against non-Persian communities. Anyway, this notion of fixed Aryan/Persian identity has been imposed on Iran with no consideration for diversity, social dynamism and historical evolution. This process still continues and the non-Persian communities are left with no choice except to adopt this “superior Aryan” identity by leaving behind their supposedly “savage and barbaric” heritage. This racism is reinforced through the education system, the media, as well as official and non-official literature produced in Persian language. In contemporary Iran then, Aryanism and Aryanization constitute the core of Iranian racism. We should also note that since 1979, Khomeinism and Shi’ist fundamentalism have been added to the existing Aryanist racism.

Me: Aside from the government, what kind of racism exists within Iranian society? You could use academic or anecdotal evidence.

Dr. Asgharzadeh: Basically, all sorts of racism(s) exist/s in this society, from systemic to individualistic, cultural, linguistic, internalized, scientific and academic. For instance, lately there has been a lot of fuss about this presumably marvellous Iranian biologist who has apparently done DNA testing in a British university on the Azeri Turks, the Anatolian Turks and the Persians and has “successfully proven” that the Azerbaijani-Turks are not genetically related to the Anatolian Turks but are (genetically) almost the same as the Aryan Persians! They have been talking about this for the past couple of years and we are all anxiously waiting to see when the results of these “path-breaking experiments” are going to be published and in what esteemed scientific journal! I for one, am very interested in seeing the kind of research methodology, the size of research population, and the kind of terminologies and their definitions (e.g., race, racism, etc) that are used by this brilliant scientist. As you can imagine, the dominant group in Iran constructs all these hyperbolic racist discourses to deny one basic human right to over 20 million Turks in Iran: Education in their own natural language.

Last week I wrote about the arrest of Said Matinpour.Well today we are receiving word that a few Azerbaijani activists organized to show their respects to Said Matinpour’s mother and father. When they called and text messaged each other, the Intelligence Ministry tapped their lines.

After visiting Matinpour’s parents, Ettelaat (as they are known within Iran) went to arrest the activists. Those arrested were Rauf Taheri (he is officially missing but it is highly probably that he is detained), Riza Abbasi and Ahmad Midadi. Intelligence officials also detained Matinpour’s parents for allowing Azerbaijani activists to enter their home. This is the foul and despicable behavior that is the control apparatus of the Iranian state.

Kurdistan

I am getting word from my own sources that 2 people died in Sanandaj two nights ago, which is in the Kurdish area of Iran.  I will continue to update this as I receive more information.

This week I interviewed Fakhteh Zamani, the founder and president of ADAPP. She is truly an inspiring woman and literally works non-stop (and I’m starting to adopt her work schedule ). Here she discusses ADAPP as an organization and gives her opinion as to why Azerbaijanis have been silent in the recent election protests.

Here it is: Interview with Fakhteh Zamani

Also, an ADAPP statement that I wrote made it into the Letters to the Editor section of the Miami Herald. You can read that here.

This has been a very unbelievable and emotionally-troubling week. Seeing all of the photos and videos pouring in from Iran has been completely surreal. It is hard to believe that a government that came to power through a revolution and that tries to uphold the ideals of that revolution can suppress the will of the people with such callousness. I want to send my sincerest condolences to the families of those who were taken in the violence.

I’ve tried to keep up with sending videos and posting pictures as I see then on my own personal Facebook and twitter accounts. It has been amazing to see the impact of the brave people of Iran using social networking sites to raise awareness of the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests. It’s a shame, however, that Iranian government officials, including militiamen (basijis) have infiltrated these sites and have been posting false reports. I have heard that these have included false claims of protests in various streets of Tehran, where Basijis and police were waiting to ambush Twitterers. Twitter and Facebook have proven to be great tools so far, but unfortunately reports that surface cannot always be trusted.

Even CNN is reporting some of the incorrect Twitters. A couple of days ago, I noticed a man on CNN by the name of Badi Badiozamani claiming that people of Tabriz (the unofficial capital of Iranian Azerbaijan) were beginning to leave their homes to show solidarity with the Persian people. He claimed that since Musavi himself is an Azerbaijani Turk, the Turkic speakers of Iran were beginning to show support for him. Then, I kept seeing videos of protests on YouTube claiming that they had taken place on June 22, 2009. One particular video I saw was sent to ADAPP the week before. It was a video that was filmed on June 10, even before the election itself. IT WAS THE SAME EXACT VIDEO as the one claimed to be from June 22! So, I decided to send the video with some edits to CNN’s IReport. You can watch it here .  I also posted the video on the Advocacy Project YouTube page if anyone is interested. I’ve also been Twittering about it using ADAPP’s username ADAPPInfo.

So let’s get this clear, ADAPP is in daily contact with Azerbaijani human rights groups AND various other Azerbaijani civilians across Iranian Azerbaijan (this includes Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil etc.). In reality, there have been no protests since June 15, 2009. The Azerbaijani provinces of Iran are eerily quiet. But yet again, not enough coverage on Iranian Azerbaijan. However, Azerbaijanis activists were successful in getting some of the word out in an article in EurasiaNet. Also I’ve been following this blog which has some great insights on why. In the next section, I will write about my thoughts as to why Azerbaijanis remain silent.

Firstly, election protests did occur in the Azerbaijani provinces of Iran. People took to the streets in Urmia and Tabriz to chant “Azerbaijani is not asleep, they have not abandoned Musavi” and Azerbaijani rights slogans. However, police and various other security forces were dispatched to South Azerbaijani cities early in anticipation of any protests and riots. My guess is that the government knew something was going to happen in these areas since Musavi is an Azerbaijani Turk. Anyway, I am told protests lasted from June 12-15. The repression was pretty brutal, in my blog last week I mentioned students in Tabriz and Urmia universities were beaten mercilessly. In Urmia, one person was killed on June 12 and again another on June 15. In Tabriz, 3 people were brutally beaten to death during protests of June 15. However, the Iranian state media, VOA, BBC Persian, Radio Farda and others refused to report on these events and refused to publish our reports because these protests were coupled with Azerbaijani rights demonstrations. Persian language media looks at Azerbaijanis as separatists, and I guess for them it’s OK that there are crackdowns in those areas. Well, June 15 was the last protest in any Azerbaijani city that we are aware.

Another reason is that Musavi, though an Azerbaijani Turk, is so assimilated into the government structure that he himself has supported crackdowns on Azerbaijanis in the past. During his campaign, he announced greater linguistic freedoms for Azerbaijanis, but actions speak louder than words. Its all political rhetoric to Azerbaijanis and here’s why:

1) When Musavi was prime minster (his term lasted from 1980-88) he was instrumental in destroying the Ayatollah Shariatmadari movement. During the early years of the revolution, this Ayatollah opposed Khomeini in establishing a velayat-e faqih, the position of supreme Islamic guide. Shariatmadari also called for a seperation of religion and the state and supported Azerbaijani cultural and linguistic rights. His party Khalq Muselman, was roughly 5 million strong and comprised of mostly Azerbaijani Iranians. It was crushed and scores were arrested and executed. Shariatmadari was allegedly tortured to retract his former statements and placed on house arrest until he died. He was well loved by the Azerbaijani community.

2) Even more disturbing is Musavi’s lack of criticism of the May 2006 crackdown. On May 2006, a cartoon was published in state-run Iran newspaper that compared Azerbaijanis to cockroaches and explained how to exterminate them. (I have an article on the cartoon that Fakhteh published if anyone is interested.) Oh, and this was in the kids section of the newspaper Anyway after the cartoon appeared on May 22, 1 million in South Azerbaijan took to the streets in the same fashion this month’s election protests. Here is a video of the May 2006 Protests; and this is a video showing some of the protests and riots in various cities; and another showing Tabriz in the one-year anniversary of the May 2006 protests.  Many cities in Iranian Azerbaijan saw protests and riots. Azerbaijanis were just fed up in general with they way they had been treated. The government crackdown was severe. Security officers fired indiscriminately on crowds, killing dozens. They shot anti-riot ammunition into the crowds, which blinded many people. In the aftermath roughly 10,000 were arrested and many of them were brutally tortured. But alas, there was no reporting of this event in Persian media. Many of the so-called “reformist” candidates, which Musavi associates himself with, were supporting the crackdown. Musavi was silent. Azerbaijanis are still scarred from this event.

These are photos of the crackdown. Cand you tell the difference between these and the photos that are emerging now?:

Azerbaijanis now would rather not get involved with the current election crisis. Essentially, why should they get involved if they are not guaranteed their own rights by Persians. ADAPP’s contacts report that Kurdistan is pretty much the same way. There are no protests in Kurdistan, just a few strikes here and there; nothing significant. The following chart, which was in an e-mail to ADAPP from the British-Ahwazi Friendship Society, shows ethnicity and turnout for the recent elections. As you can seen Kurds and Azerbaijanis were the bottom two ethnicities in voter turnout:

voter-turnout

So, I’m sorry for the length of this post but I had a lot to say. I will conclude by mentioning that in order for these uprisings to become a country-wide revolution, Persians must embrace their ethnic minority groups. The racism that exists deep within Iranian society must be completely eradicated. Minorities must be guaranteed that their regions will receive some kind of stake in any new government or change to the current regime. Linguistic and cultural rights must be acknowledged! After 1979, despite a new constitution being written which gives minorities equal rights and the right to study their own languages, the shah’s policies endured. Some say that the 1979 revolution would have never happend if the city of the city of Tabriz did not join the movement. Tabriz played a critical role in 1978. In this current movement, minorities must finally be guaranteed these rights. Otherwise, why would they risk their lives for the status quo? What’s in it for them?

So I’m sorry for the delay of this blog. I know a lot of you are starving for information from Iran right now. First off, I’d like to say that I can’t believe that I am a part of this amazing opportunity during a time like this. It has truly been inspiring to see how social media and advocacy is changing the rules for Iran. History in the making I encourage everyone to hop on Twitter and check out some of the news feeds. I am in awe of the resilience of young Iranians who are not afraid to spread news and information even at the risk of their own safety. The crackdown, however, is starting to take a bit of an emotional toll on me, though I will try to stay objective for this blog.

So, as you can imagine this week has been absolutely nuts. I have had quite a bit of work. ADAPP has been writing reports of incidents as they have been coming in, but it has been extremely hard to gather information. The Iranian government has been filtering many internet sites and our usual methods of communication have been blocked (I can’t really explain what they are) so we’ve been trying to find alternate methods to avoid the filters. But for roughly 2 days, we haven’t been able to get any information from the Azerbaijani provinces of Iran. All the news that is coming out in the media thus far has been from the predominantly Persian areas of Iran (Tehran, Ishfahan etc.). There have been absolutely no reporting on Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Baluchis, Semitic Peoples, Afghanis, Turcomens, Qashqai and Ahwazi Arabs. All of the information and reports that ADAPP has tried to send to Radio Farda and VOA Persian have been rejected because in Azerbaijan, the protests have been coupled with Azerbaijani rights demonstrations. Apparently the Persian-run media does not like that.

That being said, I do have some information to spread. Let me just start by saying that while there were protests in Iranian Azerbaijan, they were slow to start and spread. Many Azerbaijani rights groups were very apathetic about the election protests over the weekend. Azerbaijanis are still scarred from the crackdown of the May 2006 (in the future, I plan on dedicating an entire post to this) cartoon protests. Scores were killed in 2006 and roughly 10,000 were arrested and some tortured, all while the reformists were publicly supporting the crackdown. Seemingly, however more and more Azerbaijanis are beginning to take to the streets. Their cause is, however unique. Their chants have been coupled with Azerbaijani rights slogans. Here is an amateur video taken on a cell phone on June 13 in the city of Urmia: Protests in Urmia, Iran. In the video, residents of Urmia are chanting (in Azerbaijani Turkish) “Azerbaijan yatmiyib, Musevini atmiyib” losely translating to “Azerbaijan is not asleep, it has not abandoned Musavi“. Other videos show Azerbaijanis chanting “Azerbaijan is not asleep, it has not abandoned its own son”. This is especially powerful because Musavi is an Azerbaijani Turk himself and this shows the Azerbaijani support behind Musavi despite the government insisting that Azerbaijanis overwhelmingly voted for Ahmadinejad.

Here are images from Urmia:

The bottom row shows images from Tabriz University from Sunday. In Tabriz, over the weekend the government was expecting mass protests so they sent police, militias and Revolutionary Guard to patrol Tabriz University and the town. The first picture shows Tabrizi police and the subsequent 2 pictures are images of protests in Tabriz University. As you can see Tabriz was fairly quiet over the weekend compared to Tehran. Unfortunately, this meant that police were prepared to quell protests. Yesterday I received word that in the beginning of the week as protests grew in size in Tabriz University, police and revolutionary guards brutally beat and suppressed them. I don’t have images but I was told there were literally puddles of blood across campus. Some police, RGs, and militia members are running around in plain clothing beating students and activists. Look at this smug (**insert expletive here**).

jerk

Brutal repression also occurred in Urmia, Iran the past few days. Yesterday I received word that they had arrested 300 protesters and sent them to Urmia prison. Of those 300, prison guards were separating those with backgrounds in Azerbaijani activism. Activists were literally shoved into a minibus and driven to an undisclosed location. It is my belief that they were sent to a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility. God only knows what will become of them. We have also confirmed that 2 have died in the Urmia protests.

I don’t have any word from Ardabil or Khamaneh Musavi’s hometown or any other city with a majority population of Iranian Azerbaijanis. If anyone gets any word on what’s going on in these places, please let us know!!

There is still absolutely no word on the dozens that were arrested before Friday’s election. Many Azerbaijani activists have been taken by the Ministry of Intelligence (Etilaat) and are most likely being tortured, which is pretty normal. They are not allowed to get in contact with their families and nobody is aware of a trial date, their whereabouts or their health conditions. University Professor Alireza Farshi, who I have grown to admire, is one of them. His wife and family know absolutely nothing about his condition. He was arrested on May 22.

On a side note (I know this is not really relevant), I am hearing rumors that former Iranian President and current head of the Assembly of Experts, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is actively trying to call an emergency meeting of the 86-member government body. The Assembly is responsible for the election and supervision of the Supreme Leader. Rafsanjani, a very prominent and RICH (and possibly very corrupt) mullah, has been at odds with the Supreme Leader Khamanei and has called for the transformation of Iran to a more pragmatic and open country. He and his reformist camp have been growing in power in recent years. He put his backing behind Presidential candidate Musavi. It is rumored that Rafsanjani might call for a special meeting of the Assembly of Experts to call a vote to oust Khamanei. You didn’t hear it from me.

I love Vancouver! While I did arrive during a heat wave, I don’t mind it much because D.C. is usually much hotter. So, I’ve been walking everywhere. I got a bus pass for the month and I’ve been using it to explore the city. It is gorgeous. The city is nestled near a mountain range and an inlet. My housing situation is great and my director Fakhteh Zamani is a truly inspiring person and is incredibly dedicated to her work. But more about me and Canada will come later. 

I must first apologize for the length of this blog but I need to discuss what I am learning and doing.

So far, the only substantial work that I have done this week (besides this blog) has been to search for possible foundations and trusts that can fund ADAPP’s work and I have drafted a letter of inquiry for one foundation. I’ve never had any experience with grantwriting, but we shall see how it goes. Hopefully, we can secure some grants for Fakhteh’s work because most of the organization’s funding has come from donations and Fakhteh’s own pocket, so it is unsustainable. 

I’ve spent the rest of my time learning about the organization, the plight of the Azerbaijanis in Iran and the complexity of Iranian politics. I have also been practicing my Azerbaijani and I must say that I really have a lot to learn. I’ve gotten a chance to speak with Azerbaijanis that have studied in Azerbaijan proper and I’ve gained first hand experience as to how rich their language is compared to ours in South Azerbaijan. I really now understand how deprived South Azerbaijanis feel.  If all of this sounds new to you, let me give you some facts about Azerbaijanis in Iran so you can understand why I am here. 

Firstly, we need to understand that Iran is not a homogeneous society and houses many people of many faiths and identities.

Azerbaijanis are a Turkic people that are effectively separated between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. They number about 7 million in Azerbaijan proper and a whopping estimated 30 million in Iran but share the same culture and language. While they have had a long history with various Iranian peoples, they are distinguished by their own history, culture and Turkic language. The nation was split during the Russo-Persian wars and various cities were handed over to Russia in the Golestan Peace Treaty in 1813 and again in 1828. So one set of Azerbaijanis shared Iran’s destiny and the other shared Russian and Soviet destiny. Well, at least up until 1991. When the Soviet Union fell, North Azerbaijanis received their own state and were able to flourish culturally. When this happened, South Azerbaijanis gradually became more active in advocating language rights (if you like, ask me about the theory of relative deprivation). Azerbaijanis became more fed up with the racism in Iranian society as they watched their brethren flourish. Actually, it was explained to me that the education system is the exact opposite of the western system. Racist mentality grows in higher education institutions, weird huh? 

(Currently I’m reading Iran and the Challenge of Diversity by Alireza Asgharzadeh and Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity which are provide a great backdrop to this issue, check them out!)

So the movement exploded in May 2006, when an Iranian newspaper published a cartoon comparing Azerbaijanis to cockroaches. 

iran_azeri_cartoon-11

Another series of protests erupted last month when an internet video emerged showing former President Mohammed Khatami making insulting jokes about the Azerbaijani people on May 16. Protests again ensued in the cities of Tabriz, Urmia and Tehran. On May 22, a group of protesters interrupted a government-sponsored fitness walk in Tabriz. Many were taken away screaming “Turk dilinde madrese” which translates to “Turkish language schools”. This video shows an example of one activist Alireza Farshi, who was taken into ministry of intelligence custody for advocating linguistic rights. He is currently being held in government custody with no word of a trial date. His wife and family are unaware of his whereabouts and health. He is at risk of torture. Oh and it is estimated that roughly 100 Azerbaijani activists were detained in the May 22 protests alone.

But it’s not all complete doom and gloom. The Azerbaijani people are gaining some momentum. It seems that the minority card has been steadily becoming more important in the upcoming election. Former prime minister (Iran abolished this position after the constitutional reforms of the late 80s) Mir Hossein Mousvai, himself and ethnic Azerbaijani, toured Tabriz and Urmia (the city that I was born in) on May 25 and 26 to appeal to the Azerbaijani people. At one point in his speech in Urmia, he began to speak Azerbaijani and the crowd went wild. He also screamed “ Yashasin Azerbaijan”  which sort of translates to long live Azerbaijan. The following picture is of Azerbaijani activists holding up a sign which says “Turkish language schools” during Mousavi’s speech in Urmia.

mousavi

Even current president Ahmadinejad joined the bandwagon. On a June 7^th speech in Tabriz, Ahmadinejad reportedly claimed that he spoke fluent Azerbaijani and said that the language was “one of the best and most complete languages”… go figure. Yea, so appealing to minorities is quite new to Iranian politics. While this is still all rhetoric, I’m pretty optimistic about the future.

So this week, I will be working to get news about political prisoners out in the open to the English-speaking world. I have thus far made a facebook fan site, group and causes page. Please join them and ask all of your friends to join. 

Although I haven’t left for Vancouver yet, I’ve been quite busy here in D.C. working for ADAPP, my partner organization. Let me first start by introducing the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) and what I will be doing for them.  ADAPP is a minority rights organization based in Vancouver, Canada whose principal purpose is to raise awareness of the maltreatment of Azerbaijanis vying for cultural and linguistic rights. It was founded by Fakhteh Zamani, an ethnic Azerbaijani who has experienced firsthand the dehumanizing system of institutional racism that exists within Iranian society. Through an ingenious system, the organization monitors and reports on those who have been detained by the government (and sometimes tortured and killed) for protesting in favor of the right to use their native tongues in schools and in public. This summer, I will help Mrs. Zamani by keeping in touch with her various international contacts to update the website on new developments on the treatment of Azerbaijanis and Azerbaijani political prisoners in Iran. I will also assist her in her fight to expose this situation to the Canadian Parliament, U.S. Congress, the United Nations, western media and other forums in the western world. In my free time, I will be blogging about my experiences so that you all at home can see what I’m doing and know that your donations are actually being used appropriately. 

Even though I’m still in D.C., Fakhteh has given me the honor to work with her directly upon my appointment as an Advocacy Fellow. So far, I have helped her write a small biography of her organization for distribution at a conference and have summarized a speech she gave to the Canadian Parliament, which was posted on the ADAPP website. I have also been in contact with ADAPP members in Azerbaijan and Turkey through Yahoo messenger and since I am a native Azerbaijani speaker, communication has been quite easy. Recently they have given me some information regarding a video that has emerged on YouTube showing former president Khatami belittling the Azerbaijani community. I was able to write a press release concerning this issue and the resulting protests the ensued in the cities of Tabriz, Urmia and Tehran (more information on this issue can be found on the ADAPP website).

Fakhteh gave me an assignment, to which I was particularly proud to do. She was invited to speak at a forum called “Voices” at the Durban Review Conference on April 23. The forum was sponsored by the UN High Commission on Human Rights and took place in Geneva, Switzerland at the UN. I’m sure some of you remember that the conference gained international attention when some of the attendees partook in a walk-out during a speech that was being given by the current Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Anyway, I had the pleasure to of writing Fakhteh’s speech. She was very pleased as it was received very well and sparked the attention of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights.

I am very excited to begin my work in Vancouver. I know that I will have a very challenging and rewarding experience working for ADAPP and I hope that my work can truly affect the conditions to which Azerbaijani political prisoners are subjected. I know that I have my work cut out for me.

Azerbaijanis take to the streets to demand equal rights.