Iran: Information on the treatment of ethnic Azeris by the authorities and the general population
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN26671.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Information on the treatment of ethnic Azeris by the authorities and the general population, 1 April 1997, IRN26671.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acb254.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to Human Rights Watch World Report 1997, in May 1996 there were several days of demonstrations in the Azeri Iranian city of Tabriz (1997, 282). The protests were against the decision to remove from the ballot a popular Azeri politician, Muhammad Ali Chehregani, who had campaigned on a platform of opposing cultural discrimination against Azeris (ibid., 282). According to Human Rights Watch, these demonstrations stopped when five convicted criminals were executed and their bodies displayed in public in Tabriz (1997, 281-82).
According to a report in an Iranian newspaper report of 5 September 1996, 41 people were arrested in the Iranian province of Western Azerbaijan and accused of "propagating pan-Turkism," plotting against the government, embezzlement, bribery and other offences (Kayhan, September 5, 1996).
An Iran specialist at Middle East Watch, contacted by telephone, said that there is hostility to Azeris who are active in the Azeri nationalist movement, but that this is not based on ethnic hostility towards Azeris in general (15 April, 1997). The source also said that there is no significant general hostility towards ethnic Azeris on the part of the Iranian government or the general population (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below a list of additional sources consulted in preparing this Information Request.
References
Kayhan [Teheran]. 5 September 1996. "Arrests for Spying, 'Propagating Pan-Turkism' in Western Border Region." (BBC Summary 5 Sept. 1996/Global Newsbank)
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1997. Human Rights Watch World Report 1997: Events of 1996. HRW.
Middle East Watch, New York. 15 April, 1997. Telephone interview with specialist on Iran.
Attachments
Kayhan [Teheran]. 5 September 1996. "Arrests for Spying, 'Propagating Pan-Turkism' in Western Border Region." (BBC Summary 5 Sept. 1996/Global Newsbank)
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International. Various reports.
Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1996.
Encyclopaedia of the Third World.
L'État du monde.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Daily Reports. April-May 1996.
Freedom in the World 1994-1995.
Human Rights in Developing Countries 1996.
Middle East International.
Minority Rights Group International. Various reports.
