User:Orartu/Anti-Azerbaijanism

Anti-Azerbaijanism is the fear, dislike of, hatred or aversion to the Azerbaijanis, Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan of Iran and the Azerbaijani culture, which can range in expression from individual hatred to institutionalized persecution.

Iran
The Azerbaijani Turks are the largest ethno-linguistic minority in Iran. In 2003, they comprised an estimated 24% of country's total population.

The Azerbaijani people have suffered persecution by the Iran government for over a century.Although it is possible for Azerbaijanis to achieve status and wealth in the Iran, as a community they are never accorded more than "second-class citizen" status and are regarded as fundamentally alien to the Ultra-nationalist character of Iran society.

After the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty, Azerbaijani people's status became even worse than before and Iran's government started to persecute Azerbaijanis violently:
 * In summer of 1950, Abdullah Mostofi governor of Azerbaijan, forcibly and without any attention to the needs of region's people and thinking about food supply of cities bought cereal of Azerbaijan with low price and carried them to Tehran.In winter, the city of Tabriz and other cities plagued by hunger and remained without food.Inevitably,they brought Gorgan's rotten grain,the wholly owned to private property of Reza Khan, to Tabriz and other cities and sold to poor people with high price.Because bread of these wheat was rotten and inedible and at the same time expensive and scarce,thousands of destitute people became sick or died from hunger".


 * The Iran's government banned speaking Azerbaijani language and Mohseni and Zoghi,two Persian ethnic culture presidents of Azerbaijan province, in Pahlavi period had put penalty box for speaking Azerbaijani language.


 * Mohammad-Ali Foroughi, prime minister of Iran in Pahlavi period, performed intentional and grudging persinization and assimilation of Azerbaijani people of Iran which are reflected in his quotations too: "Iran's neighborhood with Turkey, Caucasia and Turkmenistan in North and North western regions, which their inhabitants are entirely Turks,is dangerous... Best thing for keeping unity of Iran is to spread Persian education.But this Persinization must not be tangible for them".

According to Gheisarri, the articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran provide for equal cultural rights of ethnic minorities, in practice, these rights have seldom been implemented. Iran's ethnic Azeris, along with Kurds and Arabs, complained about political and economic discrimination.