News
from Southern Azerbaijan
Voice of
America (VOA)
At the news
broadcast on July 23rd 2007, the Radio Voice of America
identified Iran’s Southern Azerbaijan as the Turkish Land
and commented the Iranian Government should allow Turkish as
a spoken language and grant Southern Azerbaijani Turks the
right to get education in their mother tongue.
Turks as
the political convicts in Iran’s jails
Southern
Azerbaijani persons who had been arrested and jailed as of
July on account of conducting pro-Turkish activities are as
follows:
Zanjan
Prison: Said Metinpour, Jalil Ganile, Behruz Saferi
Naqadeh
Prison: Karim Pazire, Veli Siyami, Amir Farahami, Ibrahim
Moini, Reza Pashayi
Khvoy
Prison: Iraj Naji
Urmia
Prison: Alyas Yekanlou, Mehdi Nari, Hadi Hemidi
Tabriz
Prison: Mohammed Reza Avazpour, Ansar Karadagli, Ali Sabani,
Hoseyn Rostami, Mir Sattar Mohammedi, Changiz Bakhtarer,
Samed Pourmusa
Ardabil
Prison: Abbas Lisani, Masoud Soltani
Hoseyn
Rostami, Changiz Bakhtarer and Sattar Mohammedi who were
imprisoned within the same period have been released on
August 11th, 2007. However, Revolutionary Guards Corps
confiscated their title deeds.
Ongoing
reaction against banknotes of fifty thousand riyals
Reactions
against banknotes of fifty thousand riyals, a recent
instrument of Persian Nationalism insistently sustained by
Iranian regime, still continue. The notes of fifty thousand
riyals, despite vigorous efforts of Iran’s administration,
are not accepted in cities like Tabriz, Miyandoab, Urmia,
Zanjan, Maragheh. Southern Azerbaijanis’ rejection of the
banknotes of fifty thousand riyals affected Persians as well
who work with them.
Ban on
Turkish names
The birth
registry offices have recently been denying the demands of
Southern Azerbaijanis who wish to call their Turkish
newborns in Turkish names claiming that Iran’s laws permit
only non-Muslims to bear foreign names.
Protests
against anti-Turkish newspaper
Southern
Azerbaijanis criticize ‘Irane Shomali’, a newspaper with a
blazing anti-Turkish touch, which claims in its articles
that the land of Republic of Azerbaijan belongs to Iran.
Tabriz Deputy Akbar Alami is requested in this respect to
prevent the distribution of the newspaper.
