Iran: From Aryanism to Pan Turkism
The following article "Iran and Azerbaijani Language" published in nationmaster.com is an important article that presents the views and the dilemas of Azeri Turk leadership of Iranian government.
According to the University of Michigan website the Turkish languages are classified according to this scheme: The Turkic languages, belonging to the Altaic language family, may be classified into four groupings linguistically and geographically:
# I. Northwestern (Kipchak)
# Bashkir, Crimean Tatar, Karachay-Balkar, Karaim,
# Karakalpak, Kazakh, Kazan Tatar, Kumyk, Nogai.
# II. Northeastern (Siberian) group
# Altai, Kyrgyz, Khakass, Shor, Tofa, Tuvanian, Yakut, Yellow Uighur.
# III. Southwestern (Oghuz) group:
# Azerbaijani, Gagauz, Turkish, Turkmen.
# IV. Southeastern (Chagatai) group:
# Salar, Uighur, Uzbek.
# V. Chuvash.
In other words Azeri and Anatolian Turkish are in the same category and they belong to Oghuz Turk languages. Oghuz Turks came to Iran between 11 and 15 century and settled in Azerbaijan. Any theory about Azeris in Azerbaijan should address these facts. As we will see how the Azeri Turk author of the article avoids these realities and creates an imaginary history for Azeris and suggests solutions that only shows the primitive nature of Azeri Turk ruling elite in Tehran.
On the question of Azeri turk ethnic group in Iran the regime faces the following dilema with different policy implications which has entirely different consequences for the ruling class and their relation with the general population in Iran.
Azeris as "Turkified Aryan Iranians"
First option is to continue the polices of Shah's regime as they have done for the last 27 years and call Azeri turks for "Turkified Aryan Iranians" who are allegedly been turkified by Oghuz Turks from 11 century to the 15 century. This option will lead to a stronger protest movement in Azerbaijan for ethnic and cultural rights and can generate momentum for an independent Azerbaijan State which can form a union with The Republic of Azerbaijan and even Turkey.
Azeris as Turks
Second Option is to recognize Azeris in Iran as a turkish ethnic group who have a turkish origin and are not related to the natives of Iran who have non-turkish origins. In other words "Azeris are really turks and nobody has forced them to speak Azeri Turkish language". Related to this option is to recognize Azeri Turk language as an official language and granting full ethnic rights to Azeri Turks. In short term this option will go half way to meet the demands of Azeri Turks in Azerbaijan and it may strenghten the regime in Tehran on a short term basis. But the long term effects of this option will generate a lot of complications which regime will not be able to solve and speed up the down fall of the regime in Tehran.
The long term consequences of this option are the following: If Azeri Turk language is recognized as an official language of Iran then demands will be raised from Azeris that Azeri language should be used all over Iran by the government administration. In other words Iran would be declared a bilingual country where all documnets should be produced in both languages. This is similar to European countries where they have two languages as the official language.
Next there would be a demand for population census to see which language speakers are the majority. Azeri Turks state that Azeris are a majority of the population of Iran that is Azeris are the biggest ethnic minority in Iran which is a correct statement. Then according to rules of democracy Azeri Turk language will be the primary official language of Iran. Just to make sure Azeri Turks are the majority of Iran, there can be a union of The Repbulic of Azerbaijan in the north with Iran and that would gaurantee such a majority.
Persia and Persians as a Myth
Next step would be to degrade the Persian history and civilization as some mythical and remote historical event which is not really related to the current realities of Iran and Azeri Turk history and civilization as the real driving force of Iran. This policy is actually already pursued by many western publications and media which dismiss Persia as a comic story. The movie "300" is a good example of this policy.
Iranians as Turks
Also the existence of Persians in Iran is denied and Persians are called "Iranians" which are of a different race and ethnicity from the ancient Persians. "Iranians" are regarded as turks by some western institutions such as University of Chicago which has produced genetic charts "showing Iranians" to be related to Anatolian turks and the The Republic of Azerbaijan in Caucasus. Actually there is no "Iranian ethnicity" in Iran as it is claimed by these "research institutions".
On the other side these policies would generate a counter force by the natives of Iran and will lead to stronger ethnic identity and opposition to the current pan turkist regime. That is why the regime in Tehran has made a lot of noise about "Persian Empire" and "Persian ancient history" to channel these forces into regime's proper political channels in order to control these forces. It also tries to present the pan turk regime in Tehran as a "Persian Chauvinist" regime!!!! That would strengthen the "Iranian" cover of this pan turk regime making it easier to carry out their pan turkish policies.
Azeris and Oghuz Turks
If Azeris are descedants of Oghuz Turks and they are really turks, then what happened to original inhabitants of Azerbaijan region in Western Iran. It can lead to only one conclusion that is those people have been murdered by the immigranting Oghuz Turks or driven away from these regions such as Kurds who were exiled in million to northern Khorasan. To claim "intermarriage" between Azeri Turks and "Medes"!!!!! who had disappeared thousand years before 11 century would lead back to "Iranian Aryan Azeri" theory which was promoted by "Persian Chauvinist" such as Kasravi!!!! who was actually an Azeri himself!!!!! The murder and exile of Kurds from this region is really what happened but it is not politically expedient for the ruling regime in Tehran to accept.
Azeris as "Original Inhabitants of Iran"
So the article tries to find another solution. That is to claims Azeri Turks were original inhabitants of Azerbaijan since ancient times or Azeris have been in Azerbaijan for 8000 years as some pan turks claim. And Azeri Turks have been speaking Azeri Turk language in this region since ancient times. But Azeri Turks are only related to Azeris in Caucasus only and they have nothing to do with anatolian turks who speak a very closely related turkish language and who also originate from Oghuz turks. So according to the author there was a China wall between Iran and Ottoman Turkey and Oghuz turks could not enter Iran. They only went to Turkey!!!!! Oghuz Turks probably recieved only transit visas to pass through Iran to reach Turkey!!!!
Subsequently the author creates some mythical "Persian Chauvanist" who have claimed some dialects of Persian Pahlavali called "Ancient Azari" language was spoken in this area before Oghuz Turks came and rejects these claims. In reality whatever language was spoken in this region by native tribes such as Kurds and others, those people are either dead or have been driven away from the area by the Oghuz Turks and there is no dispute with the author that those people do not live in this region anymore. But the author claims Azeri Turks did not originate from Oghuz Turks but are Turks native to Iran since ancient time!!!!
Azeri Racial Nationalism
The whole issue of language is actually very minor issue as what the author is going to suggest next. The author introduces two keywords in his article that has a great significance. These keywords are "mingling" and "inter-marriage". When the readers thought the Azeri Turk elite has given up on "Azeri Iranian Aryans" theory, you can see that it is introduced back into the new theory.
Unity of Turks or Pan Turkism Azeri Style
The author starts talking about unity of Turks. One would imagine that the author means the unity of Azeris in Iran and Northern Azeris in Caucasus. But the reader is completely wrong. The author is not interested in Azeris in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Next one think of unity with Turcomans who live in Khorasan. No!!!! The author is not interested in Turcomans either. The author is very interested in some un-named turks who live in Khamse!!!!
Quote: "It is generally thought that in the land of Persia, nothing is spoken but Persian, and few are aware that Turkish is widespread throughout Iran. It is perhaps even more common than Persian, and many Iranians themselves, if asked if Turkish is spoken in their country, would reply, “Sure, in some provinces like Azerbaijan and Khamse,”"
Where is Khamse?
Where is this Khamse????? Very few Azeris have heard about Khamse!!!! Nobody knows where this Khamse is. Khamse is a code word for something else. The Qashaqii tribes in Fars province live in a region called Khamse. But that is very strange. Qashaqaiis are in no way related to Azeri Turks. Qashqaiis are combination of Persian and turk tribes who have built a confederation. They speak a turkish language RELATED to Turcomans and not Azeri language. But ethnically they are not even related to Turcomans. Qashaqiis display mostly Persian phenotypes. In addition to that Qashqaiis have Persian culture which Azeri Turks do not have. My Persian wife knows Qashqaiis very well as she has gone to school with them in Iran.
So why Azeri Turk author is so interested in Khamse???? According to some sources Qashqaiis actually have Aryan origin and are one of the purest Iranians. Also the author uses the keywords "mingling" and "inter-marriage". But Qashqaiis live in Fars province long away from Azeri Turks in Tehran and Azerbaijan. So what does he means by that???? Does he mean Qashqaiis have "mingled" and "inter-married" with Azeri Turks over such a great distance!!!!
Khamse is moved to Tehran!!!
The answer to these puzzles are solved when the Azeri turk author states that some of them have "migrated" or really have been moved to Tehran. Now the question is why Qashqaiis should move to Tehran for jobs when they are sitting next to the biggest oil and gas reserves in the world in their neighborhood!!!! The answer is "mingling" and "inter-marriage" with Azeri Turks!!!!
Also note that the Azeri Turk author states that:"As for the other parts of Iran, the majority of the people there are not Turks, but there are many among the tribesmen and villagers who are. An exception is the province of Kerman and the districts of Gilan, Mazandaran, Kurdestan, Lurestan, etc., in which there are no Turks except those who have migrated there recently, and they do not consider themselves to be true residents of these provinces."
Azeri Migration to No-Where???
The question is why these Azeri Turks are migrating to Gilan and Mazandaran and Kurdestan and Lurestan. These areas have no jobs to give to Azeri Turks and Azerbaijan has the lowest unemployment rate in the whole Iran? There has been reports of clashes in Mazandran where a whole village with their residents were wiped out. The Mazandarani villagers were either jailed or fled the area. Azeri Turks claimed that they are building "The University of Amol" in that area!!!!
What the author is telling Azeris is this: Azeris you are turks and you are no Aryans. You never "mingled" or "inter-mingled" with the natives of Iran as the structure of a tribe does not permit that in ancient history. But we are going to correct our mistakes. We control the state in Iran and we will use the state to "mingle" and "inter-mingle" with the natives of Iran. We will use the natives as sex objects so that we become "Aryan Azeri Turks". The author also constantly refers to turkish language as a "second beautiful wife" as if they are going to use seeghan or polygamy to achieve their objectives.
Quote: "Turkish is like a beautiful girl who sits idly beside an unveiled second wife who enchants the heart with her jewelry and bewitches the mind with her adornments."
To impress western readers the azeri turk author even grants the title of Persians to the people of Qazvin and Tehran!!!! He calls Tehran and Qazvin for Persian cities!!! Just to mention that Tehran is 70-80% are Azeri Turks. No need to discuss Qazvin!!!
Why the author is making these statements when everybody in Iran knows that Tehran or Qazvin are actually Azeri Turk cities and not Persian cities??
Iran as "Melting Pot Nation"
Quote: "Most villages and tribes in the provinces of Khorasan? and Fars? and the districts of Hamadan and Qazvin and `Eraq? and Astarabad are Turks, and travelers wandering the streets and alleys of Tehran have been astonished?? at seeing the villagers walking about speaking in Turkish. Some of these had migrated from Azerbaijan and Khamse in recent years and stay in the cities and no longer consider themselves to be from their land of origin, but from these cities."
"The Turks and Persians in Iran are not like two separate heaps, but like a chessboard during a game in which each player has penetrated the other´s ranks and the black pieces have mingled with the white ones:"
Nobody is astonished that people talk in Azeri Turk language in Tehran and Qazvin as the majority are Azeri Turks. The reason for these statements are very simple. The author is trying to convey the impression to western readers that Iran looks like USA and every city and every region is mixed up with Azeri Turks which is not correct but it is an agenda which Azeri Turk regime in Tehran is pursuing.
Also Qashqaiis speaking a turkish language has nothing to do with Azeri Turks. Qashqaiis are an indigenous people to Fars province both ethnically and culturally. Azeri Turks are not indigenous to Fars province. Nobody notices that presence of Qashqaiis in Fars province as they share the same culture as the rest of people in the province. But a massive migration of Azeri Turks into Fars province has disastarous social consequences for the population as they are totally aliens to that society. That is why Iran is not USA.
The Azeri Turk author also admits the problems they are facing to carry out their "Azeri Turk Racial Nazi Nationalism" objectives as it describes Iran as a chessboard where every move by Azeri Turks faces a counter move by the natives of Iran.This article compeletly exposes the racial agenda of these Pan Azeri Turk elite in Iran.
"Beutiful Azeri Turk Iranian Nation"
This is a primitive Azeri Turk elite culture from Caucasus which is different and incompatible with the history and culture of the natives of Iran. Their policy was summed up in a concise statement by an Azeri Turk. He stated: "Iran is not a tribal nation anymore. We are a beutiful Azeri Turk Iranian nation." And these policies by Azeri Turks are financed and sponspored by the western backers of Azeri Turks in Iran for their strategic and economic interest.
Azeri Turks have a right to demand their ethnic and cultural rights. This is supported by all natives of Iran. At the same time the natives have a right to demand their ethnic and cultural rights too as the whole mass media in Iran is dominated by Azeri Turks who are trying to impose an Azeri Turk culture on the rest of Iran. Because of special political conditions in Iran, the pan turks in Tehran do not use Azeri language but use the persian language to promote their objectives.
Pan Turkism and Russia
Also Iran as an Azeri Turk country poses a great security risk to Russia as pan Turkism can be promoted in the whole central asia. This would change the balance of forces in the region to the favor of US as opposed to today's situation where Russia is a dominant power in the region. And this is the reason Azeri Turks are promoted by the US, both under Clinton and Bush Administrations.
Pan Turkism in Iran is not an ally of the Pan Turks in Turkey as they have different characters. Pan Turkism in Iran does not use turkish language as its medium for their policies as this is not feasable because of the political conditions in Iran at present time. But that may change in near future. It tries to impose its Azeri Turk culutre on the other people under the banner of "Pan-Iranism". It is necessary to point out that Azeri Turks in Iran do not have any "Iranian" or "Persian "culture" as it is evident for the last 27 years of their rule in Iran.
Also Pan Turkism in Iran has a religious character as opposed to the anotolian secular version of Pan Turkism. That is why Pan Turkism in Iran poses even a security risk to Turkey as the Azeris might even try to impose their own version of Pan Turkism on Turkey. That is why Turkey is re-considering its alliances and distancing itself from US and may even form an alliance with Russia to oppose Azeri Pan Turks in Iran. This is actually what happened at the end of Saffavids dynasty in 1722 when both Russia and Ottomans together invaded Iran.
Pan Turkism and Democracy
Also the natives of Iran should understand that democracy will not solve the problem of ethnicities as it would lead to further turkification of Iran. As we will see later the Azeri ruling elite in Iran will not permit a separate Persian state and want to hang to their power and priviliges so they are proposing a different path. This is the path of "racial azeri turk nationalism" based on the Saffavids models which is comparable to Nazism Racial policies by the Hitler in the modern time. That is to carry out state racial policies and attempt to change the ethnic composition of the country for political reasons.
For the natives of Iran it is best not to fall into trap of slogans for demcoracy as it will only lead to speedy turkification of Iran. Azeri turks as a majority population will be able to turn Iran into a turkish state and the rules of democracy will permit that. So what remains for the natives is to demand is a federal state at the first stage, and a separate state based on Persian culture and traditions apart from an Azeri turk state.
"Persian State" and "Azeribaijni State"
Persians should demand democracy for a Persian state and not for a Turkish state in Iran. We use a "Persian State" as the term "Iranian State" has been distorted to mean "Azeri Turks". The Persian state is the primary goal for all natives of Iran regardless of their ethnicity. Azeri Turks should also build their own state separate from a Persian state.
