ISTANBUL. - Turkish Yeni Şafak daily published an article about an Iranian-Azerbaijani poet, a certain Habib, who allegedly escaped from Iran because he would be sentenced to death for his poems about Karabakh. Translation from the excerpts of this article is as follows:

Because of Iran’s close relations with Armenia and his Azerbaijani identity, the Iranian-Azerbaijani Habib was persecuted, and he voluntarily came to Istanbul for saying things that are prohibited in Iran. The penalty for saying such things is death. He is a 33-year-old poet and activist. He has left his homeland in order not to go to jail and not to remain silent, and has chosen to live in Turkey.   

“Because of Iran’s relations with Armenia, we cannot criticize what Armenia has done to us. If they find my poems in Iran, I would be executed,” Habib says. So, he came to Istanbul to speak more freely, compile his poems in a book, and enroll into university. “Our newspapers, television channels, and books are in Farsi; they do not allow us to read and write in Turkish. Being 55 percent of the population, we have a right to read and write in our language,” Habib says.       

He also says this is because they wish to obstruct the Turks from getting stronger in Iran. “The Azerbaijani nation had a great empire 800 years ago, but now they are separated it into pieces. The world does not want for the Turkish nations to unite. Since the world realized our might, they separated us into pieces and are trying to control us. The Communists took over Karabakh, each and every Azerbaijani went to different places, and they think that if the Azerbaijanis unite, they could restore their strength from 800 years ago.”

Habib also says the Azerbaijanis are oppressed in Iran. “They write bad things about us in papers, present us as immoral, and do not respect our ideas.”