BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 6. The Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post referenced a passage from Shakhriyar’s famous poem “Heydar Baba Salam” in its recent article about the cultural week held in Tabriz, Trend reports via the State Committee on Work with Diaspora.
"The moment when Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recited a poem in his native language during the cultural week in Tabriz was significant, as it resonated with the Azerbaijani audience in attendance. This act not only highlighted his connection to the language but was also an integral part of the event celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of Tabriz, an ancient Azerbaijani city that has long been a crossroads of various cultures," it said.
Mordechai Keidar, a renowned expert on Iran and the Arab world, noted this moment in an article titled "President Pezeshkian of Iran is culturally oppressed," published in The Jerusalem Post, one of the most influential global publications. Kedar, a former lieutenant colonel in the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces, is also a professor of oriental studies at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he serves as the director of the Center for Near Eastern and Islamic Studies. Additionally, he is a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
Tabriz, which for centuries served as the capital of the Azerbaijani people, is now recognized as the cultural capital of South Azerbaijan, home to a population that is overwhelmingly composed of Azerbaijani Turks. Although the region is administratively under the sovereignty of Iran, and Persian is widely spoken, the culture of South Azerbaijan remains deeply rooted in its Azerbaijani heritage. The majority of the population speaks Azerbaijani as their native language, making the culture of South Azerbaijan an inseparable part of the broader unified Azerbaijani identity.
The article highlighted a dramatic moment during Pezeshkian’s speech at the closing ceremony of the cultural week. During his speech, the president honored the famous Tabriz poet Mohammad Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known as “Shahriyar,” by quoting a few lines from his poem “Heydar Baba Salam.” At that moment, one of the officials organizing the event interrupted and warned Pezeshkian not to recite the poem in Azerbaijani. Pezeshkian’s smiling response, “No problem. No problem reading two Turkic poems,” earned applause from the audience. Dr. Kedar included the translated lines from the poem in his article.
The article also recalled former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Tabriz, during which he joined the audience in reading Azerbaijani poetry. The author sarcastically pointed out that had the president not been interrupted at an event celebrating Azerbaijani culture in Iran, it might have gone unnoticed entirely.
For more details, you can read the full article here: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-844092
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