The idea of a new Kurdish province formed in the northwest of Iran was launched and this has had the effect of a bomb in the large Azeri minority.
Ahmadi Osman, a Kurdish member of the Iranian Parliament, proposed the formation of the Province “North Kurdistan” during a parliamentary session on January 5. He said that the capital of the province should be Mahabad, a predominantly Kurdish city in western Azerbaijan province in Iran.
The province, whose southern border touches the province of Iraqi Kurdistan, is mainly populated by Azerbaijanis. The Kurds, however, claim to be the majority, illustrating the importance of the issue of ethnicity in the region.
Members of the West Azerbaijan reacted angrily to the prospect of leaving the territory to another province, and remarks Ahmadi renewed the longstanding tensions between the Azerbaijani and Kurdish communities.
Azeris, who speak Turkish, mainly Shia Muslims. The Kurds, meanwhile, have their own language and are Sunni Muslim majority. Both communities are geographically concentrated in the northwest of Iran along the border with Iraq, Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The provinces of northwest Iran were also at the center of a diplomatic row between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Azerbaijan, where some nationalist groups support the independence of the Azerbaijani minority in Iran.
New provinces needed?
According to ISNA news agency of Iran, Ahmadi told lawmakers on January 5 that he wants a “North Kurdistan” to be among the new provinces that the government plans to create.
Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in recent months that the government could create 10 new provinces, but no final decision had been taken. Iran currently has 31 provinces. Four new provinces were created since 2004.
Ahmadi also mentioned a new “bill of rights” adopted by the government in November that promises equality of all ethnic and religious minorities. “We hope that this document will be really implemented to us Kurds we felt more like second-class citizens.”
Several Azeri origin MPs in Iran have reacted harshly to the proposal Ahmadi.
Nader Ghazipur, MP Orumieh (Urmia), the capital of the province of West Azerbaijan, denounced the remarks of Ahmadis as “propaganda.” “In any case we will not allow the West Azerbaijan is cut” has he said quoted by the news site Shnobas.ir.
Hajatul Islam Rohullah Baggs, another member of West Azerbaijan, ridiculed Ahmadi. “Anyone who has the intelligence of a second grader knows Miandoab [a small town in western Azerbaijan] is more likely to become a province,” he said, quoted by Shnobas. ir.
Abed Fattahi, head of the Sunni and Kurdish factions of the Iranian parliament, said that the only way that the province would be created given that its creation is in the interest of the region and the country.
The debate on the merits of a “Northern Kurdistan” quickly spread to social media.
A page of the pro-Kurdish Facebook community called “Change the name of the province of West Azerbaijan” has thrown its support behind the proposal Ahmadi. Photo profile page is a map of the province of West Azerbaijan in Kurdish flags.
A user Maruf Doorandish commented on January 5 that he supported the proposal, writing “long live Kurds and Kurdistan.”
Another Facebook user, Mohammad Jahane commented on January 7: “The Kurds in Iran were when [Azeris] did not even know where Iran stood. The first Turkish migration to Iran came after the invasion of the Seljuk Turks [Turkic tribes of Central Asia. ]. The Kurds, however, have migrated to Iran there for thousands of years. ”
Meanwhile, a page of the pro-Azerbaijani Facebook community called “Expel the Kurds of Azerbaijan” denounced the proposal.
User Moh Rza ridiculed the proposal of January 5 display “Northern Kurdistan: Are you kidding? ”
The debate comes as diplomatic between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran is at half mast.
Last year, Iranian MPs discussed annexing Azerbaijan. Iran has sold a large part of the Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, during the 19th century the Russian Empire, and Iranian MPs have said several treaties signed at that time, should be canceled.
The suggestion of annexation caused an uproar in Baku, and came after Iranian MPs have called for a referendum in Azerbaijan to decide whether the country should join the Islamic republic.
A few months earlier, deputies Azerbaijan discussed a motion to change the name of the country in the Republic of Azerbaijan in the north. Azeri nationalists often refer to the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan of Iran as “South Azerbaijan”, suggesting they need to free Iran.
By Frud Bezhan
January 10, 2014
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty