South Azerbaijan IS Not Iran
By Umud Duzgun February 26, 2013
History made by South Azeris in an international club match between Tractor of Tabriz and Al Jazeera of Dubai. A political chant gained a voice and momentum.
South Azerbaijan IS Not Iran
By Umud Duzgun February 26, 2013
History made by South Azeris in an international club match between Tractor of Tabriz and Al Jazeera of Dubai. A political chant gained a voice and momentum.
On February 26, 2013 an Asian Champions League match took place between the soccer teams of Tractor (Tabriz) and Al Jazeera (Dubai). " Yasasin Azerbaycan! " or Long Live Azerbaijan! was the cry from the impressive crowd of 85,000 FC Tractor faithful. The Persian minority regime of Iran, which has occupied South Azerbaijan since 1946 prohibits Azeri soccer fans from carrying any cultural and political symbols and banners. Despite all these prohibitions, the Azeri fans managed to sneak in a huge 50 foot long banner writing in English for the first time "South Azerbaijan is not Iran" resembling the Catalan slogan "Catalonia is not Spain." It caught the eyes of millions of viewers around the nation and beyond.
The soccer team "Tiraxtur" (Tractor) is one of the most favorite Azeri soccer clubs which turned into a symbol of national pride and the independence movement of over 30 million Azeri Turks in South Azerbaijan, which is part of Iran at the moment.
In an interview after winning 3-1 Tractor’s Portuguese head coach, Tony Oliveira said " this was more than a football I have seen big crowds in Portugal but in my 45 years of a sporting career, I have never experienced this much enthusiasm and It was a beautiful emotion to see this happy atmosphere."
Obviously, this was a historic day " in fact, for our people Tractor is more than a club because of the values its red flags represent." added the team captain Murteza Asadi from Ardabil the third-largest city in S. Azerbaijan.
Most of the standoffs occur when Azeri clubs play against Persian clubs in domestic games. However, this time happened to be at an international AFC match between Tractor of Tabriz and Aljazeera of Dubai, which was played at the Sahand Stadium in Tabriz the historic capital of South Azerbaijan.
The Persian government in Tehran tried hard to present the Tractor club as an Iranian club and turn the crowds against the United Arab Emirate which Persian nationalists and officials regards as their regional enemy. In Persian cities, they often mobilize a hostile atmosphere for guest Clubs from Arab nations. However, in this none Persian city of Tabriz, officials were not able to turn Azeri Turks against their Arab guests. To their surprise, Azeris chanted a warm welcome and friendly words "Marhaba, Ahlan va Sahlan" hello and welcome in Arabic.
There is a hidden war going on between Persian nationalists and none Persian nationalists for decades. The Iranian regime which represents the Persian ethnic minority is following the ideology based on Persian ultra-nationalism and carries on a racist policy towards other ethnic minorities. Azeri Turks are the largest ethnic minority in Iran. They are facing harsh treatment in all aspects of life including sports.
In Iran, sports are not separate from politics. All clubs are owned by the government and most runs by appointed militia generals. They try to sideline South Azeri athletes from participating in international events such as the Olympics and World Cups. They are not allowed to show their Azeri Turkic identity in the international arenas. In domestic soccer games in Persian populated cities, the Persian fans are shouting hate slogans, insulting Azeri people freely and officials allow the hate slogans to air live on Persian national TV. In January 2010 at Tehran Azadi Stadium, Persian fans attacked a red-painted pigeon, the peace symbol of FC Tractor fans which was released during the match and flew from Tractor fans' side and landed on FC Esteghlal fans' side. Sadly, in the hand of one cruel Persian fan, the innocent pigeon was beheaded and killed in front of 100 thousand people because it was painted red by a fan of Tractor club.* This was not simply a coincidence, the hate culture goes back to a long history of Persian ultra national's theory and racism against none Persians which became the state ideology of the Persian minority regime for decades.
Previously, Azeri people expressed their voice of protest on various issues where the interests of the local Azeri people were affected. The protests to save Lake Urmia is a perfect example. At the time of the protests, there were widespread sentiments among the local Azeri population that the Iranian government did nothing to stop the drying of Lake Urmia because it was part of the government’s deliberate
policy to displace the local Azeri people from the area around the lake. The local Azeris also protested to commemorate the victims of the Khojali genocide in 1992.
When an earthquake hit the Ahar-Varzeqan-Heris region, the local Azeris were quick to organize a campaign to help the victims of the earthquake. In recent years the Azeri people have been demanding education in their own native language and initiated a petition for a referendum to secede from Iran.
policy to displace the local Azeri people from the area around the lake. The local Azeris also protested to commemorate the victims of the Khojali genocide in 1992.
When an earthquake hit the Ahar-Varzeqan-Heris region, the local Azeris were quick to organize a campaign to help the victims of the earthquake. In recent years the Azeri people have been demanding education in their own native language and initiated a petition for a referendum to secede from Iran.
The theme of slogans in the past was to show the distinct national identity such as "haray-haray men Turkem" which means hey- hey, we are Azeri Turks and "Afqanistan sizindir, Azerbaycan bizimdir" which means "Afghanistan for Persians Azerbaijan for Azeri Turks."
However, this time in the presence of international media the message was crystal clear "South Azerbaijan is not Iran" The Azeri people not only have a different identity from the Persians but they have their own historic homeland South Azerbaijan. This manifestation provoked angry reactions from Persian nationalists and shocked the mullah regime in Tehran. They arrested several Azeri fans and threatened the Azeri public with harsh words. But on the ground, they were not able to confront the people’s power. This incident resulted to further weakening of the Persian minority regime in holding together the country's so-called "i r a n" by force. In fact, Iran the enemy, the oppressors, felt a shudder. Never before has a football team been the backbone of a political ideology to this extent.
However, this time in the presence of international media the message was crystal clear "South Azerbaijan is not Iran" The Azeri people not only have a different identity from the Persians but they have their own historic homeland South Azerbaijan. This manifestation provoked angry reactions from Persian nationalists and shocked the mullah regime in Tehran. They arrested several Azeri fans and threatened the Azeri public with harsh words. But on the ground, they were not able to confront the people’s power. This incident resulted to further weakening of the Persian minority regime in holding together the country's so-called "i r a n" by force. In fact, Iran the enemy, the oppressors, felt a shudder. Never before has a football team been the backbone of a political ideology to this extent.
From the late 1990s, the Iranian regime tried to sideline all South Azerbaijani soccer clubs (with the conspiracy behind it) by pushing them to play in lower division leagues. Under the supervision of FIFA, after seven years Tractor finally managed to come back to the premier league and last year it achieved second place in the premier league.
And now FC Tractor is treated almost like a security threat to the Iranian government. The authorities don’t allow any match to be played at the Bagshimal Stadium in the city center. The place allocated to Tractor's games -Sahand Stadium- is heavily guarded. And stadium itself is located well beyond the city of Tabriz. Azeri fans are not allowed to bring in their historic national flag or any signs written in Azeri Latin alphabet, which is the one used in the Republic of Azerbaijan, an independent part of greater Azerbaijan. Tractor fans face jail term threat for promoting slogans with cultural and political messages. Waving the flag of United Azerbaijan is also prohibited.
A fan from Hamadan, the sixth-largest city in South Azerbaijan, wrote a comment on his Facebook page: "It is only when you see the struggle of the South Azerbaijan people that you can start to understand the importance of FC Tractor in this independence movement."
And now with the upcoming referendum on Catalonian independence approaching a similar demand was requested by nine political parties of South Azerbaijan for independence under the supervision of the United Nation and the free world. In a real sense, South Azerbaijan is not Iran. Like FC Barcelona for Catalan, FC Tractor will carry on its symbolic role in strengthening the Azeri independent movement. Taking inspiration from the Azerbaijan-centered thinking of renowned Azeri writer Professor Mohammad Taqi Zahtabi, I am able to state the future prospective for the national independence movement as follows: "When the right time comes, the people of South Azerbaijan will clear the dark clouds from the skies of South Azerbaijan at such an incredible speed no one can predict."
Uploaded on Jan 19, 2010
Animal Cruelty in Iran! Very sad story! How somebody can kill an innocent bird because it was painted by the other soccer team?! ... In a soccer match in Tehran one pigeon where painted in red by a fan of Tractorsazi Team and it was released during the match but some cruel fans of the other team took the bird and killed it! Please raise your voice by distributing this video on the web to force the Iranian government to bring those criminal fans to justice
Uploaded on Jun 5, 2010
Backward Persians in Tehran insulting Azerbaijanis as Turk e khar-eshak or donkeys and police gurding persians and attacking Turks
The banner in Sahand Stadium in Tabriz was held up and cheered by millions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2jacGd7dE
Summary of the match FC Tractor vs FC Al Jazeera on Feb 26, 2013
Summary of the match FC Tractor vs FC Al Jazeera on Feb 26, 2013
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