Mahmudali Chehregani

Mahmudali Chehregani (Azerbaijani: Mahmudəli Babaxan oğlu Çöhrəqanlı, Persian: محمود علی چهرگانی‎) (also known as Mahmudali Chohraganli) is an Iranian Azerbaijani political activist, born in Shabestar, East Azarbaijan Province, Iran, in 1958. After the expulsion[1] of SANLM (CAMAH) by Piruz Dilenchi, he founded (1995) the Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement (SANAM or GAMOH), a political group that claims to represent the interests of Iran's estimated 12 to 23.5[2][3][4][5] million Azerbaijani minority (approximately 16-25 percent of Iran's all population).[6] Chehregani was a professor of linguistics at Tabriz University.[7][8]

Mahmudali Chehregani
Personal details
Born (1958-03-05) March 5, 1958
Shabestar, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Biography

Chehregani's father was arrested and tortured on charges of treason and separatism during the era of the Shah.[9] Chehregani himself entered politics after his course teaching Turkish linguistics was closed by Iranian authorities.[10] Chehregani was arrested by agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence in December 1999, effectively preventing him registering as a candidate for the Majlis (Parliament) election within the specified time. He was tried by a revolutionary court on charges including smuggling shampoo, and sentenced on 18 February 2000 to six months' imprisonment. Amnesty International believed that "he has been imprisoned to suppress the non-violent expression of his conscientiously held beliefs, and as such was a prisoner of conscience".[11]

Chehregani went on a hunger strike on May 19, in protest at his unfair trial. He was transferred to the prison hospital on July 23, suffering from internal bleeding, and subsequently released from Tabriz prison on July 27, 2000, after six months in detention, when his condition had stabilised.[12] Iran lifted a travel ban on Chehregani in 2002, allowing him to meet with high-level government figures in Turkey and the United States. Since 2002 he lives in exile in the United States.

Political views

Language and culture

Chehregani's campaign focused on issues of Iranian Azerbaijani self-determination. He has called for the teaching of the Azerbaijani language instead of Persian as the primary language in schools in Iranian Azerbaijan,[7] arguing that it is guaranteed under Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which permits the use of regional languages in the media and in schools when used in addition to Persian.[11]

Irredentism and racism

In his speech in Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, DC, Chehregani declared the goals of his movement as follows:

"We support the territorial integrity of Iran and do not seek unification with Republic of Azerbaijan or Turkey. We do not want to live under the Islamic regime; we want democracy in Iran. We envision Iran in a federalist form that respects the rights of Azerbaijani Turks."[13]

However, Chehreganli has several times explained his objective was the absolute separation of Azerbaijan from Iran.[14] Chehregani has previously affirmed many times that federalism is an excuse for separatism and that he is a separatist.[15] He and his group have also set their aims on non-Azeri inhabited areas, specially areas inhabited by various ethnic groups including Kurds, Talysh and other Iranians.[16] Chehregani also considers the predominantly non-Azerbaijani provinces as Hamadan and Qazvin as part of Azerbaijan.[16] Chehregani, in an interview with GunAz TV, has claimed that he sees provinces which are not majority Azerbaijani, such as Qazvin, Tehran, Arak and parts of Gilan and Kordestan as part of Azerbaijani territory.[17][18]

Chehregani also used the word "Fars Kupaklari" (Persian dogs) on multiple occasions to refer to Iranian Persians on CNN Turk.[18]

Kurdish immigration

He and a group of Azerbaijani nationalists wrote a letter to then president Khatami asking him to limit Kurdish immigration to Azerbaijan from other regions of Iran and has called Kurds in Western Azerbaijan as the guests of Azerbaijanis.[18][19][20] He considers the Kurds, who does not Azerbaijani Turkic as traitors and Kurds in general as guests in Azerbaijan and has recently claimed[18] that "There are 500,000 Kurdish immigrants in Southern Azerbaijan. If they behave normally, there will be no problems, otherwise they will have to leave the same way as they came".[21]

Iraq

He and His group has also advocated the invasion of Northern Iraq by Turkey and considers Mosul and Kirkuk to be ancient Turkish lands under Kurdish occupation.[18][22][23]

References
  1. "South Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  2. "Iran: People" Archived 2012-02-03 at the Wayback Machine - CIA: The World Factbook (retrieved 7 June 2006).
  3. "Iran" Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine - Amnesty International report on Iran and Azerbaijanis (retrieved 30 July 2006).
  4. Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity, 'The Azerbaijani Population' by Brenda Shaffer, pp. 221-225. The MIT Press (2003), ISBN 0-262-19477-5 (retrieved 10 June 2006)
  5. "Encyclopedia Orient Iran" - Encyclopedia Orient (retrieved 18 August 2006).
  6. Library of Congress, Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. "Ethnic Groups and Languages of Iran". http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Iran.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  7. Human Rights Watch. Iran. Religious And Ethnic Minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice. 1997 report.
  8. William O. Beeman, "The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs",University of Chicago Press, 2008. pg 135: "The Bush administration also flitered with supporting the Mujaheddin-Khalq (MEK) in their efforts to overthrow the Tehran government, supporting Mahmud Ali Chehregani, leader of an Azerbaijani separatist movement calling for a federated Iran".
  9. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2476
  10. WWW.GAMOH.ORG | South Azerbaijan Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Amnesty International. Iran: Health concern/Unfair trial - Dr Mahmudali Chehregani Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Amnesty International. Iran: Further Information on Health concern/unfair trial
  13. "CSIS Caucasus Project Meeting Notes. Azerbaijani Turks of Iran: Will They Lead a Revolution Again? Mahmoudali Chehregani" (PDF). Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2006.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link). August 8, 2002
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 January 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link). AZERI SEPARATIST MEETS POLICY MAKERS IN WASHINGTON By Reza Breakstone
  15. Transcript of part of Chehregani 18-hour multi-part interview with Gunaz TV. Ali Amoui.
  16. Map from Gamoh's website compare to reliable maps like the one from BBC
  17. Transcript of part of Chohraghanli 18-hour multi-part interview with Gunaz TV. Ali Amoui.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Mazdak Bamdadan. 4 December 2003. religious intolerance, blind nationalism and the nightmare of Iranian disintegration
  19. Mahmud Nozhatzadeh. The movement of Azerbaijan. Democratic or Separatist strategists. 28 November 2002.
  20. letter of 64 Azerbaijani writers, students and intellectuals addressing Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. Letter was sent on the July 05 1998
  21. See "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Chehregani's own website
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Hossein Tork Ellali, Gamoh Spoke Person. The Turkish Army should enter Iraq.
  23. "The Turkish Army Should Enter Iraq". Archived from the original on 24 October 2005. Retrieved 11 October 2006.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
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