Country: Iran
Group: Azeri
Date Finalized: 3/20/2024
Team: Anthony Un (Lead), Lacey Hurst, Noelle Collings, Evelyn Annelo, Juwairiah Afridi
Content Warnings: Ethnocide
Approximate Time Period: 1925-Present
The Azeri, sometimes referred to as the Iranian Azeribaijanis, are a Turkish Shi’a minority group in Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was divided between Russia and Iran during the early 19th century, splitting the country at the Araz River. While Azerbaijan proclaimed independence from the USSR in 1991, the historical split means the area south of the river still belongs to Iran. Azeri compose 16% of the Iranian population. Historically, Azeris have been the most closely aligned with the Iranian government of the Iranian minority populations (Minority Rights Group, 2017).
There is significant evidence of past and ongoing ethnocide of Azeri people in Iran. In 1925, Reza Shah Pahlavi made efforts to ethnically homogenize Iran. This included the banning of Azerbaijani from schools, books, religious ceremonies, and theatrical performances (Swietochowski, 1995). Iranian and Azerbaijan nationalists have manipulated historical documents to deny or justify Azerbaijanis’ courses of action and associations with ethnic identities. For example, nationalists may deny that the people on either side of the Araz river are the same ethnic group at all and dispute historical territorial borders (Shaffer, 2002). These acts serve to limit the claimed ethnic identity of Azeri people. In the 1990s, the growth of Iranian nationalism led many Iranian Azeris to hide their ethnicity (Shaffer, 2002).
Recent survey research amongst Azeri speakers in Iran showed a high level of positive attitudes towards Azeri and a strong opinion that Azeri should be taught in schools (Rezaei & Nematzadeh, 2017). The same study found that Azeri media has become less available in Iran in recent years. Throughout the 2010’s, Azeri rights activists advocating against language restrictions have been arrested for the formation of illegal groups, collusion against national security, and propaganda against the state (CIHR, 2017). In 2017, the Iranian government arrested Azeri ethnic rights activist Abbas Lesani while advocating for Azeri language state recognition (CIHR, 2017). In 2021, a gathering of Azeri individuals to celebrate International Mother Tongue Day resulted in the Iranian government arresting six protesters under espionage charges (CIHR, 2021). Azeri activists also cite the changing of Azeri place names as a means of erasing Azeri culture (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Azeri activists continue to protest discrimination against Azeri people in education, job opportunities, and distribution of resources by the Iranian government (DaBell, 2013).
The data quality is a 3/3 for significant evidence from a variety of scholarly sources.
Sources
- Center for Human Rights in Iran. (2017). Four Azeri Rights Activists Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison for Peaceful Activism. Retrieved April 9, 2023 from https://iranhumanrights.org/2017/02/civil-rights-activist-turkish/
- Center for Human Rights in Iran. (2021). Non-Persian Mother Languages Treated as “National Security Threat” in Iran. Retrieved April 9, 2023 from https://iranhumanrights.org/2021/02/non-persian-mother-languages-treated-as-national-security-threat-in-iran/
- DaBell, Bijan. (2013). Iran Minorities 2: Ethnic Diversity. The United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved April 9, 2023 from https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2013/sep/03/iran-minorities-2-ethnic-diversity
- Minority Rights Group. (2017). Minorities and indigenous peoples in Iran: Azeris. Retrieved April 9, 2023 from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/azeris-2/
- Rezaei, S., Latifi, A. & Nematzadeh, A. (2017). Attitude towards Azeri language in Iran: a large-scale survey research. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 38(10), p. 931-941.https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1342652
- Shaffer, B. (2002). Borders and brethren: Iran and the challenge of Azerbaijani identity. Harvard University.
- Swietochowski, Tadeusz. (1995). Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. Columbia University Press.