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During the celebration of “Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia”, after weeks of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Turkish president gave a speech during which he recited a poem by the Azerbaijani poet Muhammad Ibrahimov.
The poem speaks of forcibly dividing the old Azerbaijani borders, and refers to the separation of Azerbaijan between Russia and Iran after a treaty signed in 1828. The poem complains about the distances that separate the Azerbaijani-speaking population in both banks of the Aras River, whose northern bank lies Azerbaijan.
But Erdogan’s verses were echoed in Tehran, which expressed its discontent with the Turkish president.
Iran summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest against what it said was interference in its affairs, demanding an immediate explanation. Tehran expressed fear that Erdogan’s statements reinforce separatist tendencies among members of the Azeri minority in Iran.
The Foreign Ministry also said that it informed the Turkish ambassador that the era of claiming sovereignty over lands and promoting war and expansionist empires is over.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif criticized on “Twitter” what he described as the mistake made by the Turkish president when reciting the poem, and considered that it includes indications that the northwestern regions of Iran are part of Azerbaijan.
In reaction from Ankara, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador and informed him of its displeasure at what it described as Tehran’s accusations against Erdogan and the promotion of a hate campaign against Turkey.
He also criticized the use by the Iranian Foreign Minister of the “Twitter” platform, instead of the usual channels in the relations of the two countries, which he described in the document.
And Iran has a large population of Azerbaijani nationality, especially in the northwestern provinces bordering Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is separated from Azerbaijan by the Aras River.
