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Iranians: Police Arrest 17 Azeri Rights Activists in North

by Michael Lipin

   Residents of Iran's northwestern ethnic Azerbaijani region say police
   have arrested 17 local activists to prevent them from staging an annual
   rally at a mountain fortress to promote minority Azeri rights.

   In messages sent to VOA Persian on Thursday, the residents provided
   names of the 17 activists who they said had been detained in recent
   days. They said the arrests happened in several cities, including
   Tabriz and Ahar in East Azerbaijan province and Meshgin Shahr in
   neighboring Ardabil province.

   In recent years, Azeri rights activists have gathered each July at
   Babak Fort in East Azerbaijan to protest what they say is
   discrimination against Iranian Azerbaijanis by the government of
   Persian-majority Iran.

   The fort, which state media say originated in the Sassanid era
   (224-651), is named after Babak Khorramdin, a Persian warlord who
   fought against Arab invaders until his death in 838. Babak, a native of
   the predominantly Azerbaijani region, is lauded by many Azeris and
   other Iranians as a national hero.

   Iranian Azerbaijanis traditionally have climbed the steep path to Babak
   Fort in early July to celebrate what they say is Babak's birthday. A
   resident of the region sent VOA Persian a mobile phone video of the
   fort's ramparts on Thursday, saying the clip had been filmed earlier in
   the day. About a half-dozen police officers can be seen in the clip,
   with a similar number of other people nearby, who appear to be
   tourists.

   WATCH: Iranian police deployed at the historic Babak Fort in East
   Azerbaijan province, July 5, 2018

   The sender of the video and other residents said there has been a
   stepped up police presence around the fort to coincide with the
   observance of Babak's birthday. They said police in the region's main
   cities arrested the 17 Azeri activists to stop them from going to the
   fort and also warned several other residents not to travel there.

   The U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran says ethnic Azerbaijanis
   make up 16 to 25 percent of the country's population. Many of them
   speak an Azeri-Turkish dialect that the Iranian government has banned
   from being taught in schools. Azeri rights activists have long
   criticized the ban, saying it violates Article 15 of Iran's
   constitution, which allows for "the use of regional and tribal
   languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their
   literature in schools."

   Iran's Islamist rulers have long discouraged the official use of Turkic
   languages in the country, fearing it could promote nationalism and
   separatism among minority groups.

   This report was produced in collaboration with [1]VOA's Persian
   Service.

   Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV,
   specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on
   Twitter [2]@Michael_Lipin

References

   1. https://ir.voanews.com/
   2. https://twitter.com/Michael_Lipin