Why is Iran heading full steam ahead towards the division into ethno-states?

The Kurdish reflex to resist is now being tested in Iran. This must be the raison d'être of the "Imposing Persian Culture" that constantly creates an enemy, an other. To exist by creating enemies through marginalization. In Iran, after the Turks, the Kurds are being tested and are being tested this time. Moreover, after the bloody experience of the "Mahamad Kurdish Republic", the patience of the Kurds in Iran is again being tested. The "Mahamad Kurdish Republic" was a satellite de facto state that emerged in the vacuum of authority created by the power struggle between the Soviet Union and Britain, which entered Iran after the end of the Second World War and lasted less than a year. Like the autonomous republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

What is being done in Iran these days is a provocation. By the way, let us recall that the reign of the Qajar dynasty (1796-1925) was the last phase of the nearly thousand years of Turkish rule in Iran, starting with the Ghaznavids. In their works on Iran, Western experts have always emphasized the fact that Iran was ruled by Turks from the time the Ghaznavids dominated Iran until the fall of the Qajars. For example, the German Turkologist Gerhard Doerfer, speaking of the fact that "Iran was under Turkish rule from 997 to 1925, that is, for almost a thousand years", states that "during these thousand years, the members of the court, the army and the nobility in Iran were composed of Turks". We have to know, we have to learn. This is a chauvinist concept, there is no objection such as "they are not telling the truth" and the Pahlavis themselves have openly admitted this. In 1925, Reza Shah Pahlavi, who put an end to the rule of the Turkish origin Qajar dynasty in Iran and established the Pahlavi dynasty based on Persian nationalism, could not help expressing his confession as follows in a statement published in the newspaper "Mîhen" (Distress) on March 13, 1924, even before he sat on the throne:

"We must confess that for more than a thousand years Iran has lived under the rule of Turkish conquerors" (1)

Exist by creating enemies through marginalization. This is an area where the Pharisaic government is extremely successful. Moreover, the 'Pharisaic Iranian government', based on Persian chauvinism, is very skillful in measuring the resistance reflex of the peoples in the Middle East. Measuring the reflex of resistance means distorting a sensitivity, a sensitivity in the region and, when necessary, scratching the reflex of resistance of those living in the region, mostly those with minority status, and identifying the sensitive points of the state and developing measures to be taken by the state against them.

This situation is dominant in the West, for example, the Danish and French cartoon crises are typical examples of this. Let us recall together that the publication of derogatory cartoons against the Prophet of Islam and Muslims in the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" on September 30, 2005 caused many clashes and more than a hundred people lost their lives. 10 years later, in 2015, the French humor magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' used a similar argument, in coordination with the administration. The September 11 attack in the US was also tried to be explained with the "clash of civilizations" argument put forward by Huntington in 1993.

However, what is wanted to be done is to create an other after the Cold War, to consolidate, strengthen and reinforce its existence through otherization and identification. The cartoon crises in the West are a reflection of both Islamophobia and Islamophobic attitudes and cultural stances and cultural philosophies. In Iran, however, this situation has been reduced to identity conflict. On May 12, 2006, in the Friday supplement for children and young people of a state-owned newspaper called 'Iran', published in all cities of Iran, a cartoon comparing the Turks of South Azerbaijan to a 'cockroach' outraged the Turks and caused both Kurds and Turks to take to the streets like the case of 'Mahsa (Jina) Amini' who was killed by the 'Irshad Patrol', a kind of moral police.

In Iran, the Irshad Patrol monitors whether women dress appropriately and whether they wear headscarves. This great anger, fueled by the unresolved problems or unanswered demands of the Turks and Kurds, who have been made second-class citizens in Iran through the application of Persian chauvinism, has turned into a holistic objection that encompasses all the cities of Iran. In the beginning, the event was provoked in some way, but it is clear that the basic elements that fed the dynamism in the streets, which could not be calculated by the Mullah-Ahund Administration, which has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century, have been dragged towards ethnic divisions at the end of this process.

To use a fashionable expression these days, Iran is heading full steam ahead towards the division into "ethno-states". Let us not forget that the capital of both North and South Azerbaijan is Tabriz, and South Azerbaijan is waiting for unification and integration with its sister country North Azerbaijan.  This situation is so complicated that it dictates to the Mullah-Ahund government that new ethno-states can be established in South Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Baluchistan and Caspian provinces. In Tabriz, the capital of United Azerbaijan, Turks are chanting "Azerbaijan is standing, together with Kurdistan".  Demonstrators in Tehran shout "Kurdistan, the eye and light of Iran", while Shiites in Mashhad raise their voices for the 80 or so Sunnis killed in Baluchistan on September 30, 2022. Khuzestan has, perhaps for the first time, engaged in an interaction for the solidarity of peoples other than the "Arab People". (2)

But there is also a big planning guide behind closed doors, unseen but motivated. What I mean by this is that it is a situation that the US and Israel are waiting for with their hands wringing. Why? Because they will be able to encircle Iran from all sides and largely prevent it from reaching its coastline and restrict its access to the main ports in the Gulf and Caspian Sea and the abundant natural resources in the border regions. This is the advice given by the Great White Chief from Washington: Establish "ethno-states" and dissolve "Iran". Small pieces are easy to manage. This is the US version of the Roman Empire's "Divide and Rule" (Divide et Empera). Although it is known as the method used by expansionists and colonizers, it has always been practiced since the beginning of humanity. Thanks to this policy, by dividing the enemy into parts, they prevented them from becoming a danger to themselves, and ensured that the divided enemy would lose power by fighting each other. So? The point is this. To dismember a country with its own internal synergies, without touching the water. Iran has lost the parameter of being the other for the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. As the conflict shifts to the Pacific and the Far East, the US has now found new big others. The RF and the PRC have decided to eliminate Iran as well. This process is underway.

Let's draw a conclusion: "In the Middle East, especially in Iran, anyone who does not take the women, the slums and the bazaar/market shopkeepers with them has absolutely no chance of coming to power." This is as deep-rooted, meaningful and tested as a proverb. Let us not forget that it was women, the headscarf, the turban, the burqa, the chador that overthrew the Shah.  They enabled the Mullah-Ahunds to come to power. It is this triple alliance that brought the Velayat-e Faqih concept to power. Now they are determined to end the 44-year rule of 'Mullah-Ahunds'. During my visit to Tehran, I watched the video of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran in his own house in Iran, which is now a museum. I still remember the moment when he got off the airplane as if I was there and saw it from the documentaries I watched. He was descending with such dignity, with such awe, as if the symbol of Allah was descending from the sky. Sümme hasha, I am excusing you all, let there be no mistake in the metaphor. What I want to say is that he saw in himself such a greatness, such an influence, you know, he was seen as such a savior that the images of him getting off that plane were so chilling. I'm not exaggerating, over two million people gathered at the airport and tried to lift the plane into the air. It was unthinkable, of course.

The fact that 22-year-old Mahsa Emini, whose death set the streets ablaze, was a Kurd from Chios, whose real name was 'Jina', lit the fire of a new Kurdish uprising, just as women in the fields cut girls' hair and burned it along with their headscarves. Their pictures were reflected on t-shirts and banners as the voice of protest. For nearly two months now, the fire lit by the murder of 'Jina' has been carrying the slogan "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" (Women, Life, Freedom) of the Apoists in Iran, the extension of PeKaKa, who are currently unable to protest in Turkey, from city to city with great anger. The Iranian PeKaKa is reflected in the field by the organizations PJAK, KOMALA and IKDP. It is hardly understandable that PJAK, an extension of PeKaKa, has declared the flag of the 'Mahabad Republic' as the national flag. Different ethnic groups, including Persians, Baluchis and Arabs, carry the slogan "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" in Persian as "Zan, Zendagi, Azadi" (Women, Life, Freedom). Memories are being refreshed. Armed Kurdish uprisings are remembered. Bedirhan rebellion in 1847, Sheikh Ubeydullah rebellion in 1880, Ismail Simko rebellion in 1918, Mahabad Republic in 1946, autonomy rebellion in 1979-1984 put the historical memory back in front of the government. It seems that the regime, which is quite skillful in these matters, wants to establish a Kurdish connection with these events and to establish a separatist image. (3)  

Yes, dear readers, the Mullah-Ahund Administration has been able to come to this day only with the Persian chauvinism it inherited from the Pahlavi administration, based on the fact that the majority of South Azerbaijani Turks are Shiites, and has tried to unite those who identify themselves as Persian in the "Persian/Shia" synthesis. The fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has identified its core state as "Persian/Shia" has brought about resistance. The current unrest now harbors the possibility of a return to an ethnic basis.  If the genie comes out of the bottle, there is no stopping it; you cannot put the squeezed paste back into the tube, dear readers.

Footnotes

(1) Namıq Musalı, "On the Issues of Turkish Identity and the Position of Turkish in the Qajar Period", ASOBID Amasya University Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 2, Sa. 4, December 2018, p.133.

(2) Fehim Taştekin, "Rebellion in Iran, ethnic fault lines and the latest situation in geopolitical weight", Gazete Duvar, October 31, 2022; https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/iranda-isyan-etnik-fay-hatlari-ve-jeopolitik-siklette-son-durum-makale-1587182/Erişim Tarihi 13.11.2022/

(3) Fehim Taştekin, "Kurdish rebellion: Truth or intimidation?", Gazete Duvar, November 7, 2022; https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/kurt-isyani-hakikat-mi-korkutma-mi-makale-1588112/Erişim Date 13.11.2022/