President of ANAS: 'Azerbaijani language is purposefully alienated in Iran'

The Azerbaijani language is deliberately alienated in Iran, President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Isa Habibbayli, said, Report informs.

According to him, Iran is essentially a Turkic state:

"The state called Iran has been ruled by Azerbaijani-Turkic dynasties such as the Seljuks, Khwarazmshahs, Ghaznavids, Eldiguzids (also known as Atabegs), Aggoyunlus, Karakoyunlus, Timurids, Safavids, Afshars, and Qajars. Persian chauvinists seized power in Iran at different times, especially in the 20th century. Throughout the centuries, the common language of communication in Iran has not been the Persian language, but the Azerbaijani-Turkic language, as the current regime has always declared. Even now, in Tehran, Mashhad, and other big cities, representatives of different nationalities speak Azerbaijani to communicate with each other."

Habibbayli reminded that the Persian language is a means of communication for limited official circles, and the Azerbaijani language is a means of communication for all peoples living in Iran: "Nevertheless, as the leader of the World Azerbaijanis, President Ilham Aliyev, rightly said, the Azerbaijani language was deliberately 'reduced to the level of a household language' because it is not taught in schools in Iran. As a large number of Arabic-Persian words and foreign idioms have been artificially introduced into the Azerbaijani language, which is the mother tongue of our compatriots living in South Azerbaijan, the grammatical structure, artistic style, and colloquial features of our language have been seriously alienated."

"The Iranian regime's encroachment on the Azerbaijani language has endangered the preservation of the language of the Azerbaijanis living there. Because of all this, the Azerbaijani language must be taught systematically and continuously in secondary and higher schools in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which opens schools, radio, and churches, and publishes newspapers for a small number of Armenians, should recognize the right of millions of Azerbaijanis to study in their mother tongue. Depriving more than 35 million Azerbaijanis living in Iran of the right to study in their mother tongue is an unacceptable event that is entirely against human rights and humanity in general. The rights of South Azerbaijanis should be restored, and all the freedoms they deserve should be given to them," ANAS president added.