Iranian Azerbaijan: Human Rights Issues of Ethnic Turks in Iran скачать в хорошем качестве

Iranian Azerbaijan: Human Rights Issues of Ethnic Turks in Iran

As the Western media continues to report on Iran's Green Movement, we invite all to consider another very important protest, three years before the infamous election of June 2009. Every year in May 22nd members of Azerbaijani community in Iran commemorate the event they call 'cartoon incident'. Four years ago, on May 12, 2006, an Iranian State newspaper, Iran Daily, published a cartoon depicting Turks (in Iran) as cockroaches. The cartoon strip showed a cockroach speaking Turkish—the native language of Azerbaijanis—and suggested people deny the cockroach food until it learned to speak Persian. This invective was far too much for Azerbaijanis and it led to several peaceful protests in the northern cities of Iran. By May 22nd, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis took to the streets demanding an official apology. The demonstrations were met by force and several were killed and arrested by the authorities. Below is an interview with Fakhteh Zamani, an Azerbaijani advocate with a unique perspective on this historic event. Read more: http://radioazerbaijan.ca/?p=200