Ethnic Azerbaijanis from Iran snipe at Tehran regime in Berlin protest

Ethnic Azerbaijanis from Iran have urged the international community not be silent in the face of the Iranian regime, "which is spreading war and terror, examples of which we see in Azerbaijan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Ukraine and other countries".

They made the remarks in a statement adopted at the end of protest held in Germany's Berlin on May 20, a Report correspondent covering the protest informs.

The statement was adopted on the eve of the next anniversary of the May 22 (1 Khordad) 2006 events in Iran, when the Iranian authorities published in the official newspaper Iran a derogatory cartoon depicting more than 35 million Azerbaijani Turks in the form of insects. This caused large-scale protests. According to official data, during the protests in Tehran, Zanjan, Tabriz, Orumiyeh, Ardabil, Akhar, Hamadan, Kaleybar, Mugan, Miyan, Marag, Khoy, Salmas, Hiyawa, Goshachai, Sulduz and Maranda, at least 30 people were killed by police, hundreds of people were injured.

In their statement, protesters criticized the Iranian regime.

"A regime has been established in Iran that oppresses its citizens, endangers security in the Middle East and threatens global peace. This regime shows a medieval attitude towards its citizens, far from civilized world values, exports terror and fanaticism to the countries of the Middle East, endangers global peace," the document says.

It is also indicated that the Iranian citizens have been fighting for the establishment of democracy for many years. As part of this struggle, thousands of citizens were killed, arrested, tortured or seriously injured as a result of the cruel and inhumane actions of the authorities.

"Most of Iran's citizens are being harassed. Iran is a multinational, multi-religious and multicultural country, and there are many variations in this country. But the Iranian regime does not recognise this, and even tries to eliminate this diversity through repression.

Turks living in Southern Azerbaijan and other parts of Iran made up the relative majority of the country's population and, although they play a central role in the history and structure of the country, they, like other oppressed peoples of Iran, are today deprived of their basic economic, political, cultural and social rights.

Our people have been fighting for their fundamental rights for more than a century and today they continue their struggle under the slogan 'Freedom, justice, national government'," the document emphasizes.