According to recent media reports, the mullahs in Tehran have started to repress human rights lawyers who are providing legal aid to protesters. These reports say that since last September, at least 16 human rights lawyers including four in the East Azerbaijan province have been arrested. According to the reports, Azerbaijani Turkish lawyers in particular are under increased pressure for providing legal aid to protesters and criticizing the crackdown on dissent, and the East Azerbaijan Provincial Bar Association is also under the mullah's scrutiny.
This comes at a time when there is increased hostility between Azerbaijan and Iran following the joint military exercises between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which prompted the Islamic Republic of Iran to launch an anti-Azerbaijan campaign, where they displayed anti-Semitic caricatures of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, where he is displayed with a huge nose and sidelocks, wearing a kippa. The question remains, what stands behind this Iranian hatred for Azerbaijan?
The lands of Azerbaijan were divided between the then Iranian Empire and the Russian czar under the Gulistan Treaty signed in 1813 and the Turkmenchai Treaty signed in 1828. At that time, the Shah of Iran Mohammad Shah Qajar tried to control the whole of Azerbaijan, but Russia left the war by taking Northern Azerbaijan under its control.
From that moment in history, Azerbaijanis were separated from each other and a large part of them began to live under Iranian hegemony. As a result of Iran's hatred, about 30 million Azerbaijanis do not have the right to study in their own mother tongue, which has resulted in the Azerbaijani Turkish language over there being reduced from a rich learned language to a kitchen language. However, the Armenian community in Iran, whose number is approximately 60,000-80,000, operates more than 29 educational institutions, most of which are located in Tehran.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev recently stated at an international conference at Ada University that he will do his best to protect all Azerbaijanis across the world including those in Iran: "We will do our best to protect the secular lifestyle of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis across the world. They are part of our people. There are schools that teach Armenian in Iran, but there are no schools that teach in the Azerbaijani language. How can this be?"
The fact that Azerbaijan regained control of Shusha and declared it once again to be the country's cultural capital city greatly angered Iranians. Shusha was one of the important cities not only for Azerbaijan but also for Iran because it was in the battles for Shusha that the Shah of Iran, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, lost his life. The Iranian troops, who tried to occupy Shusha many times, failed to do so.
Historically, Iran has considered the lands of Azerbaijan as part of its territory. This sense of appropriation has become so strong that even in modern times, some parliamentarians in Iran openly make territorial claims against Azerbaijan and try to interfere in the activities of foreign countries in Azerbaijani territory, especially in the Karabakh region. Its inability to achieve results on this front left them even angrier and prompted them to take actions that cross all red lines.
If one day the plans to transfer the control of the Zangezur corridor to the Azerbaijani side happens, the only connection between Iran and Armenia will be broken. At the same time, Azerbaijani citizens of Iran are systematically exposed to mistreatment at the hands of the mullahs in Iran, especially in the wake of the Iran protests.
As a recent report titled "Iran: A Human Rights Report on the Azerbaijani Turks in Iran" proclaimed, "Received footage from the protests and published reports from Iran indicate that protesters in East Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Qazvin, Ardabil, Tehran and West Azerbaijan are opposing the mandatory hijab, supporting women's rights, and standing up for ethnic rights and freedoms. The protesters chanted many slogans against the Islamic Republic's leadership including its Supreme Leader. During these protests, the government began to suppress protesters with live ammunition. Numerous protesters have been arrested, maimed and killed by the security forces. The majority of the fatalities occurred due to the security forces using live ammunition. In fact, the police and security forces assaulted the citizens with batons, threw tear gas and fired directly at the protesters with shotguns. Videos and photos show that the victims were hit and shot in the head."
As one Tabriz University student related, "The university president came and asked us to leave. He said if we stayed, there would be bloodshed. We kept chanting 'we are not afraid.' Two hours later, we noticed that students were attacked in the university block in front of the university gate, where many were present. The students were surrounded by security and police forces. I saw 20 students who were beaten to death. Security Forces took them blindfolded to Imam Reza Hospital. The rest of the students were arrested after the beating and bloodbath. Two of the students had broken bones in their arms and legs, but I don't know what happened to them. The university campus doors were closed. They closed the doors to attack us without even one witness. A brave girl was the first to jump the wall. I'll never forget her voice. She proclaimed, 'Neither life nor death is so valuable as to sell one's honor for these.'"
The presidents of Azerbaijan have always been cautious in their speeches about Iran since the nation's independence and tried to use expressions that did not anger Iran due to the fear that they could become even more hostile towards them than they historically are. However, in the last speech of President Ilham Aliyev, the news that Azerbaijan stands in solidarity with the South Azerbaijanis was conveyed to Iran. The Azerbaijanis are no longer afraid of the mullahs in Tehran and are standing in solidarity with the protesters.
Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and editor of the Economic Peace Center. She is also the author of "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media."
