The problems of Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq Turks was not mentioned in the report of Ahmad SHAHEED

The problems of Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq Turks was not mentioned in the report of Ahmad SHAHEED

By: Aras ATA

https://www.facebook.com/notes/güney-azerbaycan-qızılbaş-ocağı/

In the recent days, the news of Ahmad SHAHEED’s report to United Nations concerning human rights in Iran was the source of debates. The report included six parts as follows. In each part Ahmad SHAHEED (the former foreign minister of Maldives) has wrote his ideas and conclusions.

-          The behavior of Iranian regime against the civil and cultural activists (political activists, journalists, student activists, artists, lawyer and environmentalists,)

-          Social freedoms

-          Women rights

-          Ethnic and religious minorities

-          Death penalties

-          Prisoners who are imprisoned because of their relations with foreign organizations  

As it could be observed, Mr. SHAHEED has mentioned the ethnic and religious minorities’ problems in addition to more than 60 imprisoned persons in the opposition against the intentional drying of the Urmia Lake, which I thank him.

There is a part in the report concerning the problems of Bahaeis and other religious minorities. Moreover, there are proper points regarding those who have changed their religion to Christianity, Nematollahi sophists’ imprisonment and Sunni minorities. In the mentioned report, anti-government religious leaders’ condition is discussed and all these issues are those, which could be seen, regularly in Iranian regime. However, nothing is mentioned regarding the problems of the Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq minorities.

Really, Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq people do not have any problem. Of course not; there are two cases, Mr. SHAHEED is not aware of their problems or no necessity was felt regarding their problems.

Any Iranian society has special problems, which is rooted in the general condition of that society. In the present paper, generally, the problems of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs are discussed considering their residence condition.

Today, there is no exact statistics of religious minorities in Iran. Present regime follows the same separatist policies of fascist Pahlavi regime and the applied policies of one-nation, one-language, one-religion and their ideology attempts to assimilate everybody in order to create one homogenate nation. The aim is to remove all social differences, religion, culture and ethnicity. The Persianist and Shiite regime never declares the true statistics of the ethnic groups other than Persians, such as Turks, Balouchs and Arabs as a national concept. There is no information in national ID cards, birth certificates regarding the religion and ethnicity of the holders. Regime attempts to conceal the identity of population under the hegemony of Persians and Shiites. Only Christians, Judaists and Zoroastrians are legally considered in the statistics and have their special schools, religious books and representatives in the parliaments. Whereas these minorities use their primary rights, Turks in Iran even are not allowed to have education in their own language. Considering the statistics, Turks are majority in Iran and attempt to gain their universal human rights through cultural struggles. Considering United Nations as the first authority on this issue, Iranian Turks seek for help from all human right organizations. 1

In fact, Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq Turks used to live in a closed and restricted social environment during the Pahalvi era in 1970s from the standpoint of politic and socio-economic condition. However, after Islamic Revolution and along with immigrations, they were obliged to conceal their beliefs because of their economic, cultural and social life condition and their special shaved mustache. As the conclusion of these concealing and wrong policies of the government and the humiliation of Turks by other party, especially the young ones changed even their physical appearance. They are deprived of serving in state organizations and education in universities. Of course, this depriving resulted in both economic and political damages. In spite the fact that they have the biggest population among the minorities, however they could not force themselves in the decision making mechanisms. This marginality has represented itself more than before. In the last century, it was attempted to represent them as extremist Shiites or having extremist methods.

According to Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq beliefs, all humanity is equal and shares the same natural rights. Human owns logic and conscience and must behave the others, as he likes others to behave him. Jack Denny writes, “in theory and practice universal human rights is not only for living but for having an honorable life”2. According to Iranian civil code, everybody is the same before the laws!! (Article 19) However, this article always remained on the shelf and the problems of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs like other non-formal societies never was declared to human right organizations and they have never had any representative before authorities.

Unfortunately, the condition of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs is worse than any other religious minorities. Today, Bahaeis have social groups in 18 countries and any human right abuse instantly is reported before United Nations, Human Right Commission, and Europe Human Right and other organizations. In a case that Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs do not have any organization or even an institute to report and publish their problems in Iran and the world. Since the authority is transferred from father to son among Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs, they oppose any type of organizing and because of their cooperation with government in some cases or their opposition to dictatorship and concealing their beliefs and religious ideas prevent them from organizing. Moreover, there are many reasons that cause Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs not to be recognized by U.N and Europe Human Rights Organization such as following; Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs both face religious and national (lingual) pressures, they are assimilated to Shiites and Persians, they are not recognized as minorities like Zoroastrians and they are not allowed to have their institutes and groups. Consequently, during 1970s, since Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs lived in rural areas and were illiterate (they did not know Persian!) and because religion turned to a toy of politics and politicians in Iran, therefore many Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq youth formed an anti-religion belief and formation of institutes in this regard was opposed.

These are not the last attack of Iran’s Islamist regime to Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs. Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs could not get admission to higher education institutes and state organizations because of their beliefs3. The propaganda of Mollas (Islamist religious leaders) against Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs, and continuous attack of Iranian police and intelligent forces to Jem Evleri4 (a place for social activities and worshiping God), humiliating5 Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs in army and schools even in their own lands, firing from state organizations or preventing them from rising, all are against the equality of human being. Which religious book orders for massacre? As Iranian government did in Qosha Chay when armed forces of Iran attacked Uch Tepeh village and totally destroyed the village with heavy weapons and killed all the residents and buried the corpuses in mass graves. Here I attempt to mention the heroic activities of Mehdi Ghasimzadeh who is one of the activists in Qosha Chay massacre and was killed in Urmia prison only because of being Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq:

“Four years ago we wrote to different organizations and country’s religious leaders as the representative of Qosha Chay’s Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs because of extreme cruelty and pressure and we requested for recognition of our rights as Alavies (Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq) and also applied for improving the condition for us.  However, police forces having the order of higher authorities, attacked our country with heavy weapons and killed 6 people, many of us even our old father was arrested and tortured both physically and mentally for months, all our properties was ruined. Some of our friends were released from prison after months but we are here in prison …”6

The measures taken by Iranian government towards Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq is not restricted to the above-mentioned lines. The Iranian regime and its organizations not only misbehave the national and religious minorities and majorities in addition to religious leaders, other religious minorities and Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs are humiliated and persecuted. Ayatollah Khamnei the religious leader of Iran declares his ideas about Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq as follows:

“If they believe Imam Ali as the God, they are like pagans and non-Muslims and dirty7.”  Ayatollah M.T. Behjat says, “Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs are good or bad? Of course only one response: bad8.” He believes Christians, Judaists, Armenians and Zoroastrians all are pagan from the standpoint of Islam. Ayatollah Gholpaieghani9 and Lankarani10Fazel share the same ideas.

The problems of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq could not be discussed in this short piece. We did not write anything of state newspapers and the Imam of Urmia city, Hasani. Nothing could be changed by isolating Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqq and assimilating them as Shiites. The freedom of language, religion, beliefs and worshiping is primary right for human. Without the freedom of beliefs, existence of democracy is impossible. Only a little will is necessary to solve the problems of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs. First Islamic Republic of Iran must recognize us as a religious group, our language must be educated in schools, and we must be free to worship in Jem Evleri, obligatory religious courses must be canceled and the guilty persons in tragedy of Qosha Chay must be delivered to courts.

At the end of present paper, only we request Mr. Ahmad SHAHEED and all free humans who have devoted themselves to human rights; please open a chapter in your reports regarding the pressures on Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs in Iran.

The end

1. The secretary of GAMAJ, Mr. Mashallah Razmi, had a lecture in U.N human rights commission in 15 Mars 2011.

2. Dannely, Jack, Human right in practice, translated by Erdoğan, Mustafa / Kurkut Levent, Ankara, 1994

3. In order to prove all these human right abuses Mohammad Hossein Mousavi the prime minister of the era, wrote a circular to Khomeini the leader of Iran to be signed, concerning the abuses and a copy of that circular was sent to state organizations and governors. The abuses and misuses of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs rights was recognized in the letter, especially their deprivation of education harshly was criticized. In order to see the circular and study the issues you coudlrefer to www.mardomsalari.com/template1/News.aspx?NID=54015

4. Iranian police force attacked a Jem Evi in Angouran region of Zanjan province and closed all of themand thretend people that in the case of more measures by people, they would destry the houses, you could refer to following link; www.savalansesi.com/2008/11/blog-spot 3707.html  and http://balatarin.com/permlink/2008/11/16/1450952

5.Such stories could be found in Ilkhichi town near Tabriz the capital of East Azerbaijan. Basij militias arrested and kidnapped some of the elders and authorities of Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs and tortured them. Thretened them not to go to Jem Evleri. http://qirxlar.blogspot.com/2006/07/blogspot 18.html

6. For more information you could refer to www.qurtulush.info/tur/Eleviler/aleviler1.pdf. Moreover it is possible to download the “Turk-Qizilbash Ahl-e Haqqs’ Tragedy in Qosh Chay” book from following link; www.2shared.com/documetn/FbI_ueɓ/5_qizilbas-_B5.html

7. www.marjaeyat.com/fa/pages/?cd=473

8. http://bahjat.org/fa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1096&Itemid=61

9. Gholpeieghani, Mohammadreza, Majmaolmasael, Ghom, Darolqoran, bita, V1, p44, (Andishe-e-Ghom)

10. Lankarani, Fazel, Jameolmesael, V1, p 40, Q 88