Actions demanding to save Lake Urmia from drying continue in Baku

Today Baku has hosted this week's second protest action at the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan with a demand to save Lake Urmia from an ecological catastrophe. The action was organized by the branch of the South (Iranian) Azerbaijan of the World Congress of Azerbaijanis (WCA). It was attended also by activists of the youth movement "Dalga" (Wave) and the Sabail District Branch of the Civil Solidarity Party (CSP).

Despite the police squads concentrated at the entrance to the Embassy, about 50 protesters managed to break through to the building and announce - within a few minutes - their slogans demanding to take action to prevent the ecological catastrophe.

Same as during the previous action on August 31, the protesters called for solidarity of Azerbaijanis with their compatriots in Iran. Besides, again slogans were announced of political nature demanding unification of Northern Azerbaijan (Republic of Azerbaijan) with Southern Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan): "Let Azerbaijan be united with its capital in Tabriz" and "United Azerbaijan will save Urmia!"

This time either, none of the embassy staff came out to meet the protesters; and they dropped their resolution into the mailbox of the Embassy.

Additional policemen, who arrived as "reinforcement", managed to oust the protesters away from the building; however, nobody was detained.

As stated by Azhdar Tagizade, the head of the Baku-based branch of the South (Iranian) Azerbaijan of the WCA, the action was held in solidarity with the Azerbaijanis of Iran who are fighting to save the lake.

"Data arrives from Southern Azerbaijan about detention of hundreds of activists. There is information about casualties at dispersal of demonstrations," said Tagizade.

He believes that the international community should not remain indifferent to the tragedy of the Azeri people in Iran, "who suffer from discrimination policy of the Tehran regime." In his opinion, the Iranian authorities are "knowingly and deliberately pursuing the policy of draining Lake Urmia, in order to force about 12 million Azerbaijanis, who live compactly in the lake basin, to move to other regions, where they will get mixed up among other nations."

The Embassy of Iran so far refrains, despite the second protest action in front of it, from any comments. Its press service gives no answers to phone calls.

The official Baku also does not react to events in Iran. Earlier, Azerbaijani authorities had stated that protests of Iranian Azerbaijanis are an internal matter of this country.