The government of Baku currently funds, supports and promotes a restaurant-owner by the name of Ahmad Obali to promote pan-Turkism, ethnic hatred and Persphobia.

Baku’s Propaganda Moutpiece: Mr. Ahmad Obali as he appears in his study (picture source: Modern.Az). Interesitngly, Mr. Obali is often touted as an ‘expert” in cultural, linguistic, and historical affairs by the Baku establishment, but in reality his main profession is in the restaurant business – he has faced legal troubles due to his sales of alcohol to minors in Chicago (see the following document in pdf).

Despite the fanfare provided by the Baku propaganda machine, the real image of Mr. Obali is far from that of the humanist he is often purported to be. Note some highlights below in the legal case in Chicago (October 23, 2009) pertaining to Obali’s sale of alcohol to minors (see pdf or Buruk):

 ”…the undisputed evidence that Mr. Obali, while president and sole shareholder of Cousin’s had a violation history which included four sales to minors…It is a criminal act…cause a deleterious impact to the community.”

Interestingly more inforamtion has been posted on Ahmad Obali by Iranian azaris opposed to pan-Turkism.

• -احمد اوبالي شياد فاسد الاخلاق+سند-Ahmad Obali the deceiver + documents
• -احمد اوبالی کیست؟- Who is the real Ahmad Obali?

The above articles documents reveal how Mr. Obali has resorted to utterring threats against all Iranian Azaris who oppose his separatist and pro-Baku agenda. Obali  has also been accused of physical abuse.

The Baku establishment has made interesting choices of friends to help fan the flames of ethnic conflict in Iran. This process sets the following information in context.  

The Republic of Azarbaijan published an article entitled “Fate of Our Compatriots in Iran discussed at US State Department” on January 31, 2002 (as noted by Olson, 2004, p.128-129). This pertained to a meeting between the leader of the World Congress of Azarbaijanis, Ahmad Obali (the head of GunAz TV) and representatives of the US State Department.

Obali expostulated the following viewpoints to US officials:

1. flagrant violations of the rights of over 30 million Azeris by the IRI
2. banning of the Azarbaijan-Turkic language
3. destruction of Azarbaijan’s historical monuments
4. changing Azarbaijani geographical names into Persian
5. banning of political and public organizations defending the human rights of Iranian Azaris
6. targeting of Iranian Azeris with torture, murder and imprisonment.

Once again a series of facts are taken and inserted into a completley different context. As per points (1), (5) and (6) Mr. Obali deliberately fails to mention that all Iranians have been victims of political oppression. Obali is trying to somehow mislead his audience by trying to say that only one group (Azarbaijanis) are oppressed when in fact this oppression is applied to the entire Iranian collective. Obali is re-defining political oppression into a false ethnic narrative.

As per (2), there is no “ban”on Azari-Turkic in Iran – it is spoken widely throughout Iran, including Tehran. There are also numerous newspapers, radio stations and TV outlets that operate with Azari-Turkic.

Obali’s notion of “destruction of Azarbaijan’s historical monuments ” (3) is very distorted. First, Iran’s extreme religious right has been targeting all historical sites throughout Iran – see these links:

• The Extreme Religious Right and the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al Moslemeen)
• Opportunistic Elements with the Iranian Establishment 
• Endangered Archaeological Sites and Artifacts

In addition, Obali insists on calling Iranian sites in northwest Iran as `Azarbaijani” – a direct echo of the type of propaganda that was initiated by Soviet Communists Joseph Stalin and Mirjaafar b<Bagherov from the 1930s.

Despite these flagrant distortions (if not outright lies) the US state department issued a formal statement stating that the US :

“…had always been interested in Azerbaijan and that “closer relations would be established between the congress of Azerbaijanis of the World in the future in connection with the aforementioned issues [points 1-56 by Obali]…”

At the invitation of Ms. Qənirə Paşayeva, Mr. Obali once again expostulated in detail his policies very successfully… Ms. Paşayeva
is no ordinary person; she represents a type of mindset in the Northern parliament [in Baku] and is a center of power in the [Baku] government. Today Baku’s Social television dedicated a one-hour program to the events of Urumieh and all events that have transpired in recent days. these voices have for sure been heard in Turkey as well…

 آقای احمد اوبالی با دعوت خانم قنیره پاشایه وا بار دیگر نکته شناسی سیاسی خود را به خوبی نشان داد… خانم پاشایه وا یک نفر نیست ایشان نماینده یک نوع طرز فکر در پارلمان شمال و مرکز قدرت در دولت می باشد.امروز تلوزیون اجتماعی باکو نیز در برنامه ای یک ساعته به دریاچه اورمیه و وقایع روزهای اخیر پرداخته است. قطعا این صدا در ترکیه نیز شنیده شده است

1. Paşayeva  refers to Iranian Azarbaijan as “South Azarbaijan” – (note reference to the Greater Azarbaijan myth)
2.  Paşayeva  cites Iranian Azarbaijan as part of the “Turkish world” and implies that Iran is somehow “occupying” the province.
3. Obali cites Ms. Paşayeva  as the representative of Iranian Azarbaijanis – Obali narrates his native Iran as a `foreign`country
4. The direct interference of the poltiical machinery of Baku (i.e. Ms. Qənirə Paşayeva amd the Parliament of the Republic of Azarbaijan in Baku) in the affairs of an independent and neighboring state.
5. Baku’s support for pan-Turkist ideologues who wish to ignite ethnic conflicts .
6. The lack of any notable protests by the Iranian government with respect to Baku’s political interfernece  in Iran’s internal affairs.

A sense of entitlement: Thanks to over two centuries of ethno-social Czarist  engineering and the continuation of such policies by the Soviet Union, Ms. Qənirə Paşayeva (a government member of the Republic of Azarbaijan (Arran and the Khanates until 1918),  is among those Baku ethno-nationalists  who believes in a history that never was, and feels entitled to promote ethnic conflict in a neighboring state.

See Ms. Pasayeva’s interview with Ahamd Obali’s GunAz TV below – note the profound dislike in her voice and demeanor against not just the current Iranian establishment but against the Iranian people and Persian culture:.

The interview of Ms. Qənirə Paşayeva, with an Iranian pan-Turkist and Persophone, Ahmad Obali. Thanks to over two centuries of ethno-social Czarist  engineering and the continuation of such policies by the Soviet Union, Ms. Paşayeva is among those Baku ethno-nationalists  who believes in a history that never was, and feels entitled to promote the Balkanization of Iran. Ms. Paşayeva even goes so far as by talking about about “Iranian imperialism” , “Iranian occupation of Southern Azarbaijan”, “Iranian cruelty”, “human rights for Turks”, and the lack of democracy in Iran.

Ms. Qənirə Paşayeva’s statements reflect a case of the Pot calling the Kettle Black: 

Paşayeva  avoids mentioning the oppression in her own country especially with respect to:

• the lack of democratic process (the Aliev dynasty)
•  the vast surrender of economic power to foreign petroleum companies
• widespread corruption and nepotism
• discriminatory and forced assimilation policies in place against Lezgians and the Talysh  in the Republic of Azarbaijan.