Appeal
to : UNESCO and Human Rights Organization
On behalf of
Iranian Azerbaijanis who respect the 21 st. of February
as the annual International Mother Language
Day , and as the believers of
UNESCO’s intention to
achieve global peace through solving
cultural differences
Azerbaijanis had
decided to celebrate this day in
the city of Tabirz ( the central city
of Iranian Azerbaijan ) in order to help a better understanding ,
integration and co-operation amongst
the ethnic Iranian .
They had obtained proper permit from the special
organization within the government of Islamic Republic of Iran for this occasion
and had invited 18 linguists and
related speakers to participate in this celebration .
In spite of
necessary information which were presented to the authorities in
TABIRZ,
assembling permit
was denied by police force some hours before the
beginning of the ceremony and the
participants were obliged to leave
the area without any clarification .
Referring to the
latest statistics of UNESCO which
clearly specifies that “ half of the
world’s 6000 to
7000 languages are in danger of extinction “ we the 23,000,000
Azerbaijanis of Iran ( UN
statistics 1998 ) composing % 37 of
Iranian population against 22,000,000 Farsi speaking population of the country
(% 35as the same statistics )
are facing the
danger of extinction of our mother language due to the lack of
educating
our children in our
own language.
Although we , Azerbaijanis along with speakers of other languages and dialects are the
actual nation of Iran ,
unfortunately since 1925 our language rights have officially been taken over by
Farsi language and we have lost the rights of any development and protection
over our own Mother language by forbidding them to educate in schools and other educational organizations , which
concluded none Farsi languages to be
sacrificed by Chauvinistic Pan-Farsism .
Even after the Islamic Revolution of Iran ( 1979 )
in-spite-of articles 15 and 19 of country’s constitutional law to protect none
Farsi languages , the government
has not been able to support none Farsi languages in the country and Iran has become the largest grave-yard
of none Farsi mother languages and dialects .
In accordance with
the latest verifications and investigations , Iranian nation is facing
the danger of
extinction of about 130 languages and dialects out of 200 living languages and
dialects of the country within next 50 years if immediate actions are not taken to
reserve them in proper ways.
We therefore take
the opportunity of forwarding our appeal to the UNESCO and
Human Rights
Organizations to help us with reservation
of our mother language
within humanitarian bounds and boundaries
before it becomes humanitarian disaster.
On behalf of out of Iran Azerbaijanis
The Cultural
Azerbaijani Organization of Berlin
Germany March 2,
2005
Dr. M. A.
Farzane
Dr. Siddige
Adalati
Dr. Reza Baraheni
Dr. Zia
Sadrolasharfi