Soccer match rekindles ethnic tensions
Soccer match rekindles ethnic tensions
Soccer match rekindles ethnic tensions
Soccer match rekindles ethnic tensions
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A match between the Tractor Sazi soccer team from Tabriz and the Al-Jazira team from the United Arab Emirates rekindled ethnic tensions this week after a number of fans held up a sign saying “South Azerbaijan isn’t Iran” during the match. The match, held in Tabriz as part of the AFC Asian Cup (an international soccer tournament), ended 3-1 for the Iranian team.
The sign provoked angry reactions from bloggers and social network users, who protested this recent manifestation of Azeri separatism during the soccer match. Many of them stressed that the fans who held up the sign do not represent the vast majority of Iranian citizens of Azeri descent, who are loyal to their country. One of the bloggers said that those who held up the sign were “selling their homeland”, and argued that they do not represent the Azeri residents of Iran, who have always stood at the forefront of the struggle to defend their country (http://neshador.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/baner).
Another blogger said that the term “South Azerbaijan” has no scientific or academic basis, and that it is a provocative expression invented in the Soviet era by Ja’far Bagirov, chairman of the Communist Party in Soviet Azerbaijan, to justify the occupation of Iranian Azerbaijan by the U.S.S.R. in the aftermath of World War II (http://iran-vich.blogspot.ca/2013/02/blog-post_27.html).
A blogger and a fan of the Tractor Sazi soccer team posted an entry on his personal blog playing down the significance of the incident that had taken place at the soccer stadium, arguing that the intense reactions provoked by the sign on social networks are not representative of its importance. Most of the viewers who were present at the stadium did not even notice the sign, the blogger said.
He added that a single sign in English held up by a handful of citizens whose activity is funded by foreigners is not where one should look for proof of the Azeri people’s love for Iran. Such proof, the blogger said, can be found in the significant percentage of Azeris among those killed, injured, or captured in the Iran-Iraq War, as well as in the participation of Azeri citizens in the constitutional revolution of the early 20th century and in the wars fought by Iran against its enemies, including the Ottomans and the Russians (http://terakhtoriran.blogdoon.com/?post=1).
The azariha.org website posted a strong-worded commentary article condemning the sign incident that had taken place during the soccer match. The article, which was reposted by the conservative Baztab website, said that in recent years pan-Turkish groups are trying to conceal their weakness and their inability to mobilize public support through various actions in Iran’s soccer stadiums. These groups have failed in their efforts to organize demonstrations and political gatherings of Iranian residents of Azeri descent. They were unable to get citizens to take part in the demonstrations of May 22 (the anniversary of the riots that broke out among Iranian Azeris in 2006 when the government daily Iran published an offensive cartoon that portrayed the Azeri people in a ridiculous light), or in the demonstrations for the International Mother Tongue Day marked on February 21.
According to the website, the sign that could be seen during the soccer match was held up by a group of provocateurs who often go to stadiums to take advantage of the tense atmosphere and stir provocations. The sign was held up by 20 people at the most and was shortly removed because of protests from the other fans at the stadium.
The article spoke out against the separation of the three Azeri provinces (East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardebil) from Iran, and argued that the advocates of the separation are supported by foreign intelligence services. The author of the article wondered whether these services are willing to provide the Azeri provinces with the same considerable budgets that they receive from the Iranian government every year, or pay the salaries of state, bank, and municipality employees in these provinces. Are the Azeri residents who receive social security from the government of Iran willing to give up that money? Are the Azeri employees of government ministries willing to quit their jobs? Are the citizens of Tabriz willing to remain without a flag and without a government? Those who believe that the city of Tabriz can be annexed to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, need to remember that Iran’s Azeri residents have always been condescending and mocking towards the residents of North Azerbaijan.
The website said that those who held up the sign are hooligans without any social or economic status, unemployed people who spend their time in coffee shops, or drug addicts. Anyone with social status and social dignity wouldn’t be able to display such signs, regardless of whatever pan-Turkish inclinations that person may have.
South Azerbaijan has always been part of Iran, the article said. The residents of Iranian Azerbaijan have always expressed the warm feelings that they have towards their country, and the Iranian national movement has been carried on the shoulders of many an Azeri. After the storm on the social networks dies down, it will become clear that the damage of the action taken by the extremists in the soccer stadium outweighs the benefits that it has for them, because it has now become evident that the Azeri citizens do not support the extremist groups. Most of them are not even aware of the incident that took place, and those who are do not place any importance on it whatsoever.
The article ended by criticizing the security forces for allowing the large sign into the stadium and for not preventing radical separatist groups from going into soccer stadiums and attempting to stir separatism among the people of Iran (http://www.azariha.org/?lang=fa&muid=53&item=496).
In addition to criticism of the sign incident, there were also a few comments posted online by regime opponents expressing ethnic separatist tendencies. An Iranian blogger of Azeri descent posted a blog entry in which he strongly condemned the authorities of Iran for their discriminating approach towards the country’s Azeri citizens, and called for the independence of what he referred to as “South Azerbaijan”.
If the slogan “South Azerbaijan isn’t part of Iran” is so upsetting to Iranians, why didn’t the governments of Iran heed the voice of the Azeri people before the Islamic revolution, and afterwards ignored their human and legal demands? Why do the authorities of Iran violate their internationally recognized rights? Why can’t Azeri citizens learn their language, culture, and history, and are forced to learn Persian? Why do the authorities harm the economy of South Azerbaijan and thus force the residents of the region to flee their land? Why aren’t they allowed to publish books or newspapers in their language? Why are citizens who seek to defend their native language and heritage being arrested? Why is it that 99 percent of directors in the Azeri regions are of Persian descent? Why are there no large factories built in these regions? Why is the unemployment rate growing so quickly among the Azeri people compared to Persian-populated regions? Why is it that Azeri historic heroes are disrespected? Why are citizens who demand their rights being accused of separatism? Why do the authorities prevent the creation of NGOs in the Azeri provinces? Why is Lake Orumieh being dried up? Why are millions of trees being cut down in the forests of Azerbaijan?
The blogger noted that this is not the first time that citizens of Azeri descent have expressed their frustration during a soccer match. During past matches, there were also calls to let the Azeri people use their own language, realize their rights, and release political prisoners. The helplessness of the Iranian authorities in dealing with the victims of the earthquake that hit northern Iran last summer also provoked protests from Azeri citizens in soccer stadiums. The blogger called for the independence of South Azerbaijan and listed the benefits it would have for Iranian Azerbaijan: it will be able to preserve its language, culture, and history, its people will be considered first class citizens, it will have better relations with its neighbors and a better ability to secure its economic and cultural interests, it will free itself from Persian rule, its education institutions will be able to use Azerbaijani as their working language, and its economic situation will see a considerable improvement (http://gunayazerbayjantv.blogspot.com/2013/02/blog-post.html).
This is not the first time that a soccer match played by the Tractor Sazi team from Tabriz has provoked manifestations of Azeri separatism. In November 2011 some Tractor Sazi fans wore shirts with the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan to a soccer match against a rival team from Shiraz. One of them even held up the flag of Azerbaijan.
The Azeri people are the largest ethno-linguistic minority in Iran, making up 20-25 percent of the population. However, their integration into Iran’s society is considered relatively successful compared to the other ethnic and linguistic minorities in the country, and they did not bring up autonomy demands even after the Islamic revolution. After the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 and the establishment of independent Muslim republics (including Azerbaijan) to the north of Iran, the latter became increasingly concerned over the growth of Azeri national consciousness. Such concerns are one of the causes of the disagreements between Iran and Azerbaijan, whose government has been accused by Iran on several occasions of encouraging separatism among Iranian Azeris. In the past, conservative Iranian media even threatened that unless the government of Azerbaijan changes its policy, Iran may demand the return of the Caucasus territory it ceded to Russia under the treaties signed between the two countries in the 19th century.
