Hilal Mamedov, the head of the committee for protection of the rights of the imprisoned editor of the Voice of Talish (Tolishi Sado) newspaper, Novruzali Mamedov, accused the Azeri authorities of discrimination towards national minorities in Azerbaijan, reported Day.az. A letter with the detailed allegations was sent to all international diplomatic missions and organizations in the country, reported the news source. Mamedov decried the principle of Pan-Turkism (the idea of political, cultural and ethnic unity of all Türkic-speaking people under one state), which he saw as being discriminatory towards ethnic minority groups in Azerbaijan, including the Talish. “This principle aims at carrying out artificial assimilation processes in the country, seeking to weaken ties between the Talish living in Azerbaijan and Iran. The authorities are using the ‘Talish card’ to create a mono-ethnic state, based on the principle that ‘if there is no nation, then there is no problem,’” wrote Hilal Mamedov in the letter. As reported by Day.az, the human rights activist urged the international community to intervene and pressure the Azeri authorities to better protect national minority rights in the country.

This information was originally published July 10, 2007 (www.day.az) .