Mahmudali Chehregani
Mahmudali Chehregani by Piruz Dilenchi, he founded the Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement, a political group that claims to represent the interests of Iran's estimated 12 to 18.5 million Azerbaijani minority. Chehregani was a professor of linguistics at Tabriz University.
Chehregani was supported by the United States during the Bush administration, according to William O. Beeman.
Biography
Chehregani himself entered politics after his course teaching Turkish linguistics was closed by Iranian authorities.Chehregani was arrested by agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence in December 1999, effectively preventing him from registering as a candidate for the Majlis 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".
Chehregani went on a hunger strike on 19 May, in protest against his unfair trial. He was transferred to the prison hospital on 23 July, suffering from internal bleeding, and subsequently released from Tabriz prison on 27 July 2000, after six months in detention, when his condition had stabilised. 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, 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.Irredentism
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."
However, Chehreganli has several times explained his objective was the absolute separation of Azerbaijan from Iran. Chehregani has previously affirmed many times that federalism is an excuse for separatism and that he is a separatist. 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. Chehregani also considers the predominantly non-Azerbaijani provinces as Hamadan and Qazvin as part of Azerbaijan. Chehregani, in an interview with GünAz 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.
Chehregani also used the word "Fars Kupaklari" on multiple occasions to refer to Iranian Persians on CNN Türk.