AZERBAIJANI COMMUNITY IN IRAN

Early day motion 246, tabled 22 November 2006 by Keith Vaz (Labour). Signed by 23 members.

That this House expresses concern at the arrests of thousands of Azerbaijani activists in Iran; notes that this followed large-scale demonstrations in May, when thousands of Azerbaijanis in north-western Iran came onto the streets demanding their cultural rights and an end to the persecution that has been conducted against the country's non-Persian ethnic groups since the arrival of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925; recognises that the Azerbaijani population makes up 25 per cent. of the population (up to 30 million people according to the United Nations Economic and Social Council), yet there are no schools in Iran that teach in the Azerbaijani language; further notes that the demonstrations among the Azerbaijanis in Iran are the biggest in the country since the Islamic revolution of 1979; and calls upon the United Kingdom Government to call upon the Iranian government to give greater cultural rights to Azerbaijanis and other ethnic groups in the country.

Signatures by party: Labour 13, Liberal Democrat 7, Conservative 3.