Around 40M Azerbaijanis living outside country denied access to education in native language: President

ANKARA (AA) – Around 40 million Azerbaijanis living abroad do not have access to education in their native language, President Ilham Aliyev said at the Turkic states’ summit.

Speaking at the meeting of the Organization of Turkic States leaders in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Aliyev said: “The Turkic world does not consist only of independent Turkic states. Its geographical boundaries are wider. I believe that the time has come to constantly keep in mind within the organization issues such as the protection of the rights, security, national identity, as well as preventing the assimilation of our compatriots living beyond the countries, members of the Organization of Turkic States.”

Underlining that young people in the Turkic world “should have the opportunity to study in their mother tongue in schools in the countries of their residence,” he said that “unfortunately, the majority of the 40 million Azerbaijanis living outside Azerbaijan are deprived of these opportunities.”

“Necessary steps should be taken in this direction,” he stressed.

“We will continue our efforts so our compatriots, who were separated from the state of Azerbaijan due to bitter fate, preserve our language, traditions, and culture, remain loyal to the ideas of Azerbaijanism, and never cut ties with their historical homeland,” he said.

Aliyev’s remarks came amid rising tensions with neighboring Iran, where several million ethnic Azerbaijanis currently live. The Azerbaijani language is the second-most widely-spoken in Iran after Persian.

However, the language is not taught in schools and spoken Azerbaijani is under the heavy linguistic influence of Persian.