Photo: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrives at a military parade to mark the victory on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in Baku, Azerbaijan. © Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
The Islamic Republic of Iran has reacted with fury after Turkish President Recep Erdogan recited a poem which implies that parts of northern Iran belong to Azerbaijan. The poem was recited by the widely-disliked despot during a military parade in Azerbaijan, where both Erdogan and the Azerbaijani leader were celebrating their recent 'victory' over Armenia is Artsakh, known officially as Nagorno-Karabakh.
While Azerbaijan is an official national state that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union, the term Azerbaijan actually refers to a much wider region, including areas that lie officially inside Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, stated on Twitter his opposition to Erdogan's comments, saying:
"Pres. Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland. Didn't he realize that he was undermining the sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan? NO ONE can talk about OUR beloved Azerbaijan."
به اردوغان نگفته بودند شعری که به غلط در باکو خواند مربوط به جدایی قهری مناطق شمالی ارس از سرزمین مادریشان ایران است!
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 11, 2020
آیا او نفهمید که علیه حاکمیت جمهوری آذربایجان سخن گفته است؟
هیچکس نمیتواند در باره آذربایجان عزیز ما صحبت کند.
While Abbas Akhoundi, a former Iranian minister, said:
"Azerbaijan has always been not only the protector of the land of Iran but also one of the founders and main pillars of Iranian civilization. Erdogan's move should be condemned. But what do those who deliberately ignore things in Iran say about this?"
The poem recited by Erdogan contains the lines:
"They separated the Aras River and filled it with rocks and rods. I will not be separated from you. They have separated us forcibly."
The Aras river now makes up part of the officially recognised border between Azerbaijan and Iran. Erdogan also referenced the Arg of Tabriz and the Sabalan Mountain, both of which sit inside Iranian territory.
Clearly, many countries in the Middle-East are becoming deeply worried about Turkey's expansionist ideas. In recent years it has backed fighters in Libya, Syria and Artsakh, and is now believed to be sending Jihadi fighters to Kashmir in order to fight India. It has also pushed itself into the eastern-Mediterranean and been accused of attempting to set up oil-fields in Greek and Cypriot territory, much to the anger of the European Union.
Iran now clearly sees Turkey as an unstable international actor and as a threat to its regional and national interests.
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