By Shervin Najafpour
Heyder Baba, the world is a false one,
It has remained so from Suleiman and Noah.
It has given birth to its sons, and put them in trouble.
It has taken away what has given to anyone,
From Plato remained only one name.
Seyyed Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, pen name Shahriyar
The impact of the famous poetry “Greetings to Heyder Baba / Hail to Heyder Baba” (Heydər Babaya Salam) transcended borders, shattering the cultural silence of Southern Azerbaijan and igniting a profound literary revival of the Azerbaijani Turkic language in The Islamic Republic of Iran. Its resonance resonated not only within Southern Azerbaijan, which is separated from the Independent Republic of Azerbaijan, and is currently within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s boarders, but also throughout the Turkic world, heralding a new era in the region’s literary history. At a time when the Azerbaijani Turkic language faced official neglect and publication restrictions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, “Greetings to Heyder Baba” emerged as a rallying cry, breathing new life into a language that had long been marginalized. This cultural phenomenon bridged divides and rekindled a sense of shared identity, countering the insidious effects of Soviet policy that sought to isolate and suppress intellectual exchange by imposing the Cyrillic alphabet. Through its enduring influence, ” Heyder Baba ” stands as a testament to the power of literature to transcend political barriers and unite communities in celebration of the Azerbaijani Turkic language and heritage.
When the former cardiac surgeon and health minister, Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s Presidential election, a video of him reciting the famous poem went viral. Though the heartfelt rendition captivated millions of Turkic people, however, he didn’t manage to deceive the self-determination-minded compatriots. Throughout history,“Greetings to Heyder Baba / Hail to Heyder Baba” has often been used as a political tool to influence the emotions of millions of suppressed South Azerbaijani Turkic people who lives under the brutal regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Traditionally, the participation among the Turkic population in the Islamic Republic of Iran is known to be low, despite the presence of Turkic candidates. During each election, calls for boycotts come from prominent Azerbaijani Turkic activist held in the prisons of Iran, to prominent political figures in the diaspora, as the Turkic population are deprived the most basic human rights such as having the right to be taught their mother tongue.
According to Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran; The Official Language and script of Iran, the lingua franca of its people, is Persian. Official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as textbooks, must be in this language and script. However, the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian. While these rights are exclusively granted to the 70,000 Armenian population of Iran, over 30 million Turkic people, including Azerbaijani Turkic, Qashqai Turkic, Turkmens, and Kazakhs, along with 5 million Gilakis and Lurs, 4 million Mazanderani, 2 million Baloch, Kurds, Arabs, 1 million Talysh, and other minorities, are denied this right.
During the election campaign, the statement of Pezeshkian from 2016 “I am grateful that GOD created me as a Turk. No one has the right to insult the language and culture of the Turks” started circulating. All though this statement has sparked different types of discussions and concerns. The supporters of Pezeshkian were hopeful for the implementation of mother tongue in schools and that the various ethnic groups might be able to have a more inclusive educational policy which will honor Article 15, celebrating linguistic diversity, aiming to foster a sense of belonging and cultural pride.
Now that Pezeshkian has announced and appointed Mrs. Rizvan Hakimzadeh, in the committee of the Ministry of Education, this appointment has sparked intense discussions and debates within the Turkic community. Mrs. Hakimzadeh is the author and one of the executors of the project prepared for compulsory learning of Farsi for children in the pre-school period. The project that Mrs. Hakimzade and her colleagues had previously prepared and started to implement was designed to force non-Farsi speaking children to forget their mother tongue. According to the project, children should learn only Farsi from the age of 4 and pass an exam in this language to enter school. Children who cannot master the language of Farsi well at the age of 7 should be sent to special training centers. Advocates of preserving linguistic diversity and supporting bilingual education are expressing strong concerns regarding the potential impacts of such policies on children’s cognitive development and cultural identity.
– Maybe it’s time to make peace with the separation, loss and death just like Shahriyar did
Heyder Baba my way differed from yours,
Life passed, I could not come until late!
I could not learn what happened to your beautiful ones,
Did not know there were perilous paths,
Losses, separations and death.
Seyyed Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, pen name Shahriyar
It was after the Treaty of Gulistan and the Treaty of Turkmenchay was signed that the true separation of one nation took place. Loved ones were separated, great losses were given, and the longing has continued for more than 200 years. The northern side was granted the rights to preserve their culture and language, while the southern side was exposed to brutal inhuman human right violations and assimilation.
The joy of Pezeshkian being the first ever president of Azerbaijani Turkic origin to be elected in the Islamic Republic of Iran have started making headlines, and I wonder what happened to basic knowledge. Have our generation become so ignorant that they don’t take the time to confirm basic facts? Prominent news outlets have left out the most crucial fact, ethnic Turkic people have served the Islamic Republic of Iran in most high ranked positions, even the Supreme Leader of Iran, Khameni is half ethnic Turkic. Pezeshkian is not the first ethnic Azerbaijani Turkic President to be elected, he is currently the fourth president with Turkic origin. None rights for the Turkic population was implemented then, and even though Pezeshkian managed to lure the Turkic population to the voting pools, still the concerns extend beyond identity to economic matters.
For facts we know that Pezeshkian didn’t manage to grant any rights to the Turkic population when he served as the Member of Parliament representing Tebriz and *Urmia (City of *Urmu – local name used by its inhabitants) for 20 years, and then as the Minister of Health. Instead, Pezeshkian has been a true advocate for the Kurds, and many prominent Azerbaijani Turkic activists mentions concerns that Pezeshkian might misuse his power as President to force the ethnic Turkic population from their homes and allow Kurds to gain control over the City of Urmia, which is a boarder city used as a political tool in geopolitics. For this purpose, the deliberate drying of the world’s second biggest salt lake, Lake Urmia (Urmu Gölü) is a method of modern war, used by the Islamic Republic of Iran to evacuate the region in favor of the Kurds. It is what it is a ecocide, that will led to millions of climate refugees due to its massive salt storm which is leading to diseases and deaths, not only of the agriculture, the live-stocks, but also civilians.
Both of Pezeshkian’s parents are born in Urmia, his father is of Azerbaijani Turkic origin, his mother is of Kurdish origin. During his election campaign, Pezeshkian mentioned in the city of Kirmansah “All my life memories are from Kurdistan, long live Kurdistan, long live the people of Kurdistan”. This statement is alarming according to many activists, who now believe that the conversion project of South Azerbaijan to Kurdistan will be henceforth more intensive.
Additionally, Pezeshkian had a negative involvement in whitewashing of the homicide crimes of authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran against some Azerbaijani Turkic individuals, like the assassination of Zahra Navidpur and the death of 50 persons in the Mashhad – Tebriz train accident.
If one is to ask my opinion as an ethnic South Azerbaijani Turkic young lady, born and raised in Norway, the fate of the ethnic Azerbaijani Turkic population under the ruling of the brutal regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran will unfortunately remain the same. As Shahriyar wrote in his famous poem “Greetings to Heyder Baba / Hail to Heyder Baba” The world was a world of lies…
