Çingiz Göytürk's speech in European Parliament
10 September 2008
Honourable members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of Azerbaijan National Democratic Organisation (ANDO), I would like to extend my gratitude for granting me the opportunity to address the issues of 30 million Azerbaijanis whom are subjected to official chauvinistic policy of Islamic Republic of Iran.
I have no doubt hearings of this nature will pave the way to find a lasting solution to the issue of minorities in so called Iran and assist Azerbaijanis who in fact constitute the majority to regain control of their destiny, in accordance with international human rights norms and UN resolutions. As Iran 's treatment of Azerbaijanis and other Non-Persian population of the country is an obvious breach of international law, we believe the official systematic policy of forcible assimilation, is a problem of global importance rather than a local issue. We believe that democratic world could not and will not close their eyes to our sufferings.
A glance at Azerbaijan 's National Movement in the course of recent history with a review of its aims and objectives, indicate that democratic values are well and truly embedded in our political culture. Current Azerbaijani National Movement is not only part of the global struggle to establish democracy and civil society but also in forefront of it. Azerbaijani lead Constitutional Revolution of 1905's objectives were establishment of a federal system of governance, termination of despotic monarch's rule and start of democratic reforms. Experience of constitutional revolution between 1905-1911 lead to the conception that democratic conditions were not met in the rest of Iran , as a result Azerbaijanis under the leadership of SH. M. Khiyabani chairman of Democrat Party of Azerbaijan established their own democratic state called Azadistan meaning land of democracy. Azadistan lasted only 6 months and in that very short period of time it managed to bring about serious democratic reforms. In 1945 our National Movement enjoyed its greatest achievement of all by establishing Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan under the leadership of S. C. Pisheveri. Today Azerbaijani National Movement is stronger than ever and continuing the century old struggle.
Persian dominated government of Iran still is employing the same old traditional, heavily centralized method of governance and subjecting not only Azerbaijani Turks who comprises the majority of the population but also minorities such as Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis, Gilekis, Lors and other ethnic groups to the most brutal suppression. In pursue of their official systematic policy of ethnocide, towards Non- Persians, whoever resist them is being subjected to the most barbaric treatment possible. This was true in the Shah's time, it is the true in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Regrettably all Iranian oppositions are encouraging and assisting their government to take even harder stance in suppressing Non- Persians. This clearly indicates that their claim to modernity and democracy is absurd and they are an integral part of Persian dominated institutionalized racist system. Clearly so called oppositions not only are not capable of bringing about fully fledged democracy our people deserve and lasting stability we long for, but also they are part of the problem. We believe a simple regime change should not be an option for complex issues of the region, as it will not deliver the expected outcome. In fact democracy will flourish, people's interest will be best served and stability will be achieved with minimum effort if the magnitude of issues of Non-Persian nations were recognised, addressed and given priority.
The vast majority of Azerbaijan National Movement's activists believe the current situation in Iran is not sustainable any longer and our nation must be allowed to use her internationally recognized right to self determination to resolve the issues of terrorism, dictatorship, fundamentalism and racism once and for all. Only then the region will be able to enjoy prosperity, democracy and stability.
Azerbaijani National Movement is the most powerful political force that can bring about positive changes. It is the only secular, democratic, deeply popular, non violent and sizeable political force which could shape the future of the region. Millions of demonstrators of 22 May 2006 is a proof to our claim.
We strongly believe that our nation must use her right to self-determination in order to revive our national and individual human rights. We have no doubt that we will enjoy strong support of democratic world in our just struggle. Otherwise Persian chauvinism will continue to suppress Azerbaijan National Movement and eventually force it into confrontation to impose another political crisis to the already volatile region. This scenario could lead to a mass migration to Europe and exportation of the problem to European soil.
After occupation of two provinces of Georgia by Russian army, there is a substantial evidence of formation of a strategic alliance between Russian Federation and Islamic Republic of Iran. We believe this will add another hurdle to our struggle and have disastrous affect on security of democratic world.
Azerbaijan 's geo-strategic location, our nation's historic traditions, Azerbaijani National Movement's proven potential, our liberal, secular and progressive political culture within so called Iranian geography puts us in forefront of the fight for democratic values. Azerbaijan National Movement's just aims and democratic objectives could assist the free world to eliminate the factor of truly dangerous Islamic Republic of Iran permanently.
On behalf of Azerbaijan National Democratic Organisation (ANDO) I thank you for your kind attention.
Chingiz Goyturk
10.09.2008
Çingiz Göytürk's speech in European Parliament
10 September 2008
Honorable Members of the Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen.
May I extend my gratitude to the organizers of this event for granting me the opportunity to address issues relating to our just struggle for democracy, secularism and prosperity. As a representative of Azerbaijan National Democratic Organization (ANDO) I am extremely grateful for your interest in learning our views and searching for a resolution within international law.
As you most certainly know, after the Coup D'eta of Reza Shah Pahlavi in early twentieth century against legitimate, democratically elected government, the name of the Qajar Protectorate States was changed into Iran and a unitary regime was imposed upon all her subjects with a doctrine based on Persian chauvinism. This change of name was officially declared in spring 1935 . Prior to this date the notion of Iran neither was a geographically allocated name nor referred to a political boundary. In contrast Azerbaijan, Persia and others were politically defined names given to historic homeland of people with distinctive attributes who lived there for centuries. Doctrine of the newly established political system was simply based upon denial of existence of non Persians in the country.
The fact of the matter is that Iran is a multi ethnic country and some researches conclude that up to 90 distinct languages are being spoken. In Iran this undeniable fact is continued to be overlooked or at best non Persians are being referred to as ethnic minority. For the simple reason -that despite of the official massaged statistics- Azerbaijanis still comprises the majority of the population in Iran, we could not be classified as an ethnic minority.
During the course of the history we Azerbaijanis, have been one of the two dominant nations who were formed the governments and shaped the political map of the region.
Azerbaijanis have always set up a devolved system of governance with clear political boundaries based upon ethnicity and to certain extent non Azerbaijanis rights have been observed even in distant past. In contrast history suggests that Persian dominated governments have always employed heavily centralized methods of governance with disregard to the non-Persians rights. Basically there have been two political forces with clear distinctions, Azerbaijanis and Persians.
Today's Persian dominated government of Iran still is employing the same old traditional Persian heavily centralized governance method and subjecting not only Azerbaijani Turks who comprises the majority of the population but also minorities such as Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis, Gilekis and other ethnic groups to the most brutal suppression. In peruse of official systematic policy of cultural genocide, towards non Persians, whoever resist them is being subjected to the most inhumane treatment possible. This was true in the Shah's time, it is the true in the Islamic republic of Iran.
Regrettably all Iranian oppositionists are encouraging and assisting their government to take even harder stance in dealing with the issue of the rights of non Persians. This clearly indicates that their claim to modernity and democracy is false and they are an integral part of Persian dominated institutionalized racist system. Clearly so called oppositionists not only are not capable of bringing about democracy and stability to the region but also they are part of the problem.
Today's Azerbaijani national Movement is continuation of a century old struggle for secularism, democracy, prosperity and stability. Our movement is the most powerful political force that can bring about changes for better. It is the only secular, democratic, deeply popular in Southern Azerbaijan and non violent powerful political force which could shape the political future of the region. Millions of demonstrators of 22 May 2006 is a proof to this claim. We believe the current situation in Iran is not sustainable any longer and our nation will use it's internationally recognized right to self determination to resolve the issues of terrorism, dictatorship, fundamentalism and racism once and for all.
Azerbaijan National Democratic Organization (ANDO) is an integral part of the Azerbaijani National Movement and a true reflection of its secular, democratic, civil and non violent nature.
Thank you for your kind attention.