Dissident's visit to Baku serves as additional source of Azerbaijani-Iranian tension

Nailia Sohbetqizi 4/03/02

The recent visit of a leading Azeri-Iranian dissident to Baku helped stoke a separatism debate that is hampering a rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Iran. Ongoing bilateral tension is, in turn, complicating efforts to resolve regional issues, in particular the division of the Caspian Sea.

Mahmudali Cohraqani, a professor at Tabriz University in Iran and a leading advocate of Azeri rights in that country, received a warm welcome of top opposition politicians during his mid March visit to Azerbaijan. Cohraqani was outspoken in his calls for broader civil rights for Azeris in Iran.

Cohraqani claimed that there are about 30 million ethnic Azeris in Iran, or approximately 45 percent of the country's overall population. Most live in northern Iran, which Azeri nationalists portray as "south Azerbaijan." In an interview with the Turan News Agency, he asserted that Azeris should receive broad self-governing powers under a federal-style government in Iran. He also did not exclude the possibility that Azeris could seek outright independence in the future.

"We hold a struggle for our national rights and this struggle will succeed," Cohraqani stated upon his arrival in Baku.

Cohraqani complained that Azeris in Iran today suffer systematic discrimination, pointing out that there is no Azeri-language newspaper or magazine published in the country. Azeri-language radio and television broadcasts are limited to a few hours per week in a "strange" Azeri dialect, he added. Cohraqani told Turan Azeri activists in Iran would strive to exert pressure on the government to increase the amount of Azeri-language broadcasts and publications.

In Baku, Cohraqani met with leaders of major Azerbaijani opposition parties, as well as with representatives of public and non-government organizations (NGOs). He did not receive any invitations to meet with government officials.

Azerbaijani and Iranian officials have been struggling to clear the way for the oft-postponed state visit of Azerbaijan's president, Heidar Aliyev, to Tehran. The trip, which was put off in February, has yet to be rescheduled to date. Even though Cohraqani had no contact with Azerbaijani officials, the visit was sure to rankle Tehran.

The issue of ethnic Azeri rights is not the only source of tension between Baku and Tehran. The two countries are also sparring over their respective shares of the Caspian Sea, and over Tehran's growing cooperation with Armenia. In late March, Azerbaijani officials abruptly shut the Iranian cultural center in the Nakhichevan exclave, which borders Iran. Authorities gave no reason for the closure, other than to say it had operated without having been properly registered.

Some regional political experts say the Azerbaijani-Iranian tension represents a major obstacle to a Caspian settlement. Officials from all five Caspian littoral states are expected to gather in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat in late April for the next round of talks aimed at finalizing the sea's territorial borders. The lack of a territorial agreement is hindering efforts to develop the region's abundant oil and gas resources, experts say. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives].

Editor's Note: Nailia Sohbetqizi is a freelance journalist based in Baku.

Posted April 3, 2002 © Eurasianet