Ethnic discrimination in Iran and Armenia harshly criticized at UN session

The 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council continues in Geneva, Switzerland, Report informs.

Human rights activist, expert of the public association "Legal Analysis and Research" Azer Hasret spoke at the session about the infringement of the rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran and the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenia.

It was noted with regret that although Iran is officially an Islamic state, it uses religion as a pretext to oppress non-Persian peoples. According to some estimates, up to 40 million Azerbaijani Turks live in Iran. However, they still do not have the right to use their native language. Iran has lagged far behind in the organization of schooling in the native language for ethnic Turks. Moreover, school-age children who do not know Farsi are not accepted at all for schooling.

It was emphasized that Armenia also adheres to an intolerant attitude towards other peoples and demonstrates indifference to the rights of ethnic groups. Since 1988, approximately 230,000 Azerbaijanis have been ethnically cleansed in Armenia. As a result, Armenia has become one of the few mono-ethnic countries in the world.

The 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council began on February 27 and will end on April 4.