Azeri deputies submitted a report on the situation in South Azerbaijan to the NATO PA

Gudrat Gasanguliev, member of the Azeri delegation who has taken part in the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Paris, reports to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that a document on the situation in South Azerbaijan has been submitted to the political committee of the NATO PA.

He notes that the Azeri delegation asks international organizations and the world community to pay attention to the processes in South Azerbaijan and to call upon the government of Iran to stop repressions with regard to Azerbaijanis.

"The document reflects specific events in South Azerbaijan and contains information on the divided nation of Azerbaijan. The document has been registered and the political committee working team is going to start its checks. The document is important for shaping an objective view on the events in Iran. The interest paid to such events by such an influential organization as NATO is a significant fact," he notes.

The Azeri deputies intend to raise the issue of events in Iran in the course of the PACE summer session.

Meanwhile, despite the repressions of the Iranian authorities, South Azerbaijanis continue their actions of protest. As the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed at the Baku office of the Movement for National Emergence of Southern Azerbaijan (MNESA), mass actions of protest are planned for June 10 in Teheran and Tebriz. The office notes that, so far, small-scale protests in Tebriz, due a drastic growth of the number of arrests, continue.

According to the MNESA, during the period of manifestations (starting from May 22) about 50 participants have been killed, 600 wounded and 4000 arrested in clashes with armed forces and police.

For reference, the conflict between the authorities of Iran and the Azerbaijanis residing in the country started on May 8 from the publication of caricatures, which are offensive for Azerbaijanis, by the government newspaper, the main newspaper of the country. Azerbaijanis were shown in the form of cockroaches. The Iranian authorities, in order to avoid escalation of the conflict, have closed the newspaper, its chief editor-in-chief and the caricaturist have been put into custody.