Resolution of South Azerbaijani Independence Party (SAIP), presented to the Warsaw Summit 2019,
South Azerbaijan always has been a prosperous and fertile land, with hardworking and industrious Turkish inhabitants. At the turn of the century, Azerbaijan was called “the food basket of the region”. With Tabriz and Urmu at the centre, South Azerbaijan was world famous in commerce, prosperous economy, agricultural production and handcrafted products. The land and eventually people of South Azerbaijan were adversely affected by coming to power by coup d’etat of Persian racist and specifically anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Turkish dictatorship of Reza Pahlavi. In the 1920s and 30s, hundreds of thousands of South Azerbaijani Turks were forcibly moved to Persian speaking provinces and areas of Iran. Most of which were killed in opposition or vanished during the process of forced migration. Millions were put to the process of forced assimilation to foreign language and culture of Persian. The Turkish language was banned and every aspect of national prosperity for South Azerbaijanis such as the economy, commerce, culture, education, and media was denied and prohibited. After twenty years of despotic anti-Turkish iron rule of Reza Pahlavi, he was deposed by world powers led by England and the US. Anti-Azerbaijani policies of the Iranian central government were followed by the deposed king’s son until 1979. During the second Pahlavi’s rule, more South Azerbaijani Turks lost their land, lives, and their very identity. South Azerbaijani Turks suffered more, and their land and people were degraded in every aspect of life. Step by stop the name of Azerbaijan was taken away from areas and provinces. Most of the names of rivers, mountains, places, and cities were changed to Persian. Even naming children had to be in non-Turkish. In short, South Azerbaijan was de-Azerbaijanized and native Turks were de-Turkisized systematically. In 1945 by a popular uprising, South Azerbaijan declared it’s regional autonomy and in on a short year of semi-independence, many progress was achieved by the government of Prime Minister Pishevari in South Azerbaijan. In 1946 Iranian army occupied South Azerbaijan and burned most of the crop resulting in great starvation and depression, forcing more people out of their homeland. From 1946 until 1979 the so-called Islamic revolution, over one million South Azerbaijani Turks were incarcerated, tortured, exiled, starved to death, and killed by Iranian racist Iranian-Persian government.
In the last 40 years of so-called Islamic rule, oppression, despotism was multiplied by the central government, and all anti-Azerbaijani and Anti-Turkish policies were intensified. Iranian apartheid government is literally destroying every resource of South Azerbaijani nation, making their land desolate, un-irrigable, and uninhabitable, and reducing people to mere desperate uneducated, and humiliated people of the second degree in Iran. The most important damage done to South Azerbaijan is the systematic drying up of Lake Urmu, which resulted in desertification of the area and destruction of the demographic fabric of the inhabitants. To protest the dire situation, South Azerbaijanis poured to streets of South Azerbaijani cities in a peaceful demonstration, only to be beaten, arrested, tortured, and killed in the response. Iranian racist and terrorist regime’s treatment of human rights activists and environmental activists resulted in more protests and a popular uprising among ordinary people. Nowadays, every day, there are many peaceful protests in many cities by desperate people who are losing their livelihood in their own homeland, and harsh and inhumane treatment of Iranian security forces, uniformed and plain-cloth. Pasdaran which is a world recognized the terrorist organization and affiliate Basij plain-cloth forces are exacting havoc on South Azerbaijani cities, using even heavy weaponry and air forces. Iranian apartheid government is destroying South Azerbaijan and depopulating the area of Turkish inhabitants. We herein condemn the Iranian terrorist government and declare:
1- Iranian occupation forces to leave South Azerbaijan without any condition, clearing the way to the establishment of an independent and democratic South Azerbaijani government.
2- We call for freedom of political prisoners and human rights activists and environmental activists from Iranian prisons.
3- We condemn the Iranian terrorist regime’s intervention in the region and the world.
4- We declare that “South Azerbaijan is not Iran” is our main and the most important slogan in our struggle for independence and freedom from the yoke of Iranian-Persian racist and terrorist regime.
5- We would never yield to any regime change which would bring about any form of central government under sheikh or shah.
6- We ask all governmental and non-governmental organizations in the world to officially condemn Iranian terrorist government for the continuing of the occupation of South Azerbaijan and the inhuman and harsh treatment of peaceful people of South Azerbaijan.
South Azerbaijani Independence Party SAIP,
February 10, 2019