ETHNIC AZERIS VOW “MAJOR” RALLY OVER TEHRAN’S REJECTION OF DEMANDS – BAKU PAPER
Yeni Musavat, Baku
5 Jun 06
The Baku-based Yeni Musavat paper has reported that ethnic Azerbaijanis
in Iran have vowed to continue their protests because of Tehran’s
refusal to fulfill over 30 demands put forward in a statement issued
by a rally in Tehran on 4 June.
Quoting the statement, the paper said that ethnic Azerbaijani
protesters in Iran will stage “a major protest” in Qum on 6 June
and the Iranian government will be held responsible for any future
incidents.
The statement said: “The Turkish language should be recognized as
an official language, the use of the phrase ‘Azeri language’ should
be stopped in official documents, the Turkish language should be
taught at secondary and high schools throughout the country, given
that Turks live throughout the entire territory of Iran, radio and TV
channels should be established and broadcast in Southern Azerbaijan,
a separate Turkish-language 24-hour channel should be opened for
[ethnic] Azerbaijanis in Tehran, a state newspaper or agency which
could be distributed to all Iranian regions should be set up.”
It also called for the allocation of 5bn dollars for the implementation
of economic projects and “for the coverage of damage inflicted by
the recent developments”.
The statement said that 22 May, a day of riots in Tabriz, “should
officially be marked as Azerbaijani Martyr Day, … and a separate
Azerbaijani province should be set up”.
“Those arrested should be freed, those who fired at people should
be brought to book and the publication of all [ethnic] Azerbaijani
papers which were recently closed down should be resumed… and Iran
newspaper should be closed down for good, the policy of changing the
ethnic composition of Azerbaijani-populated towns should be ended,
Iran should cease all political, cultural and trade relations with
Armenia,” it said.
Yeni Musavat quoted a source in Ardabil in Iran as saying that forty
of 1,075 people who had been recently arrested were women and only
102 of the detained protesters were set free.