Academic accuses Iran of ousting Azerbaijani language on purpose

President of Azerbaijan's National Academy of Sciences, academic Isa Habibbayli has said that the Azerbaijani language is being supplanted in Iran purposefully.

According to him, Iran is essentially a Turkic state.

Habibbaly argued this, stating, that "Since ancient times, the state called Iran has been ruled by Azeri-Turkic dynasties - Seljuks, Khorezmshahs, Ghaznevids, Atabeks, Aghgoyunlu, Garagoyunlu, Timurids, Safavids, Afshars, Qajars. At certain periods, especially in the twentieth century, Persian chauvinists seized power in Iran. For centuries, the language of communication in Iran was not Persian, as the current regime claims, but Azerbaijani-Turkic. And now, in Tehran, Mashhad and other major cities, people of different nationalities speak Azerbaijani", according to Report. 

Habibbayli recalled that the Persian language is the means of communication of the limited official circles, and the Azerbaijani language is the language of all people living in Iran.

He noted, that "Nevertheless, as the leader of the Azerbaijanis of the world, President Ilham Aliyev rightly said, Azerbaijani language 'remains only at the level of everyday life' because it is not taught in schools in Iran".