Azeris in northern Iran (aka South Azerbaijan) campaign for education in their mother tongue (Türkçe Eğitim İçin İmza Kampanyası)

Khaqani Park, Tabriz, Iran.

Source: Aygazete.com (Turkish)

Dünya Azerbaycanlılar Kongresi tarafından 21 Şubat´ta düzenlenecek "Dünya Ana Dili Günü" arifesinde Güney Azerbaycan´da Türkçe eğitim için imza kampanyası başlatıldı.

A signature campaign for education in Turkish has begun in South Azerbaijan for the eve of February 21st, the "World Native Language Day" prepared by the World Azerbaijani Congress.

GünAzTV´nin haberine göre Güney imza kampanyasına Güney Azerbaycan´ın başkenti Tebriz´in yanı sıra Urmiye, Erdebil, Zencan, Marağa, Hoy ve Hemedan´da büyük ilgi var.

According to news from GünAzTV (South Azerbaijan TV), the signature campaign has seen a lot of interest not just in the capital of South Azerbaijan, Tebriz, but also in Urmiye, Erdebil, Zencan, Marağa, Hoy and Hemedan.

Pazar yerlerine, resmi daireleree, işyerlerine, fabrikalara, okul ve üniversitelere kadar uzanan kampanyada birkaç gün içinde 100 bin imzanın üzerine çıkıldığı belirtiliyor.

There have been over 100,000 signatures obtained over a number of days in the campaign, in areas such as markets, government agencies, workplaces, factories, schools and universities.

İran Anayasası´nın 15. ve 19. maddeleri, ülkede yaşayan tüm farklı etnik topluluklara kendi ana dillerinde eğitim almayı garanti ediyor.

In the 15th and 19th articles of the Iranian constitution the right to education in one's own language for all different ethnic groups living in the country is guaranteed.

21 Şubat Dünya Ana Dili Günü´ne kadar sürecek olan kampanyada toplanan imzalar, İran Meclisi´ne ve uluslararası kuruluşlara gönderilecek.

The signatures gathered from the campaign until the World Language Day on the 21st of February will be sent to the Iranian Parliament and international organizations.


A comment below the article also gives this address as the place to sign for those who are interested.

Articles 15 and 19 in the constitution are as follows:

English (from here)	Persian (from here)
Article 15: Official Language The Official Language and script of Iran, the lingua franca of its people, is Persian. Official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as textbooks, must be in this language and script. However, the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian.	زبان‏ و خط رسمي‏ و مشترك‏ مردم‏ ايران‏ فارس‏ است‏. اسناد و مكاتبات‏ و متون‏ رسمي‏ و كتب‏ درسي‏ بايد با اين‏ زبان‏ و خط باشد ولي‏ استفاده‏ از زبانهاي‏ محلي‏ و قومي‏ در مطبوعات‏ و رسانه‏ هاي‏ گروهي‏ و تدريس‏ ادبيات‏ آنها در مدارس‏، در كنار زبان‏ فارسي‏ آزاد است‏.
Article 19: No Discrimination, No Privileges All people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; color, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege.	مردم‏ ايران‏ از هر قوم‏ و قبيله‏ كه‏ باشند از حقوق‏ مساوي‏ برخوردارند و رنگ‏، نژاد، زبان‏ و مانند اينها سبب‏ امتياز نخواهد بود.