Introduction
The heated political, social and economic events of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century convincingly indicate that intercultural relations and interactions are important factors in life activities of modern states and nations. This can be expressed in the unity of ethnic commonalities in attaining territorial and cultural integrity. The process of extending intercultural connections, the unifications of Europe, the disintegration of many multinational states, numerous ethnic conflicts, and nationalistic, religious and cultural movements demonstrate that ethno cultural problems in the recent history are still important and topical.
In Iran, there are about 15 millions Azeri (20 and 30 in different sources), which is about a third of country’s population. They are all concentrated in northwest of Iran, in Southern Azerbaijan: in provinces the Western and Eastern Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan. Azerbaijani language is common for the northern and southern part of Azeri ethnos and it is not understood for most of the Iranians. The study of the Azeri minority in Iran is of major importance as it can show the formation of the ethnical identity of the Azeri ethnos, especially after the establishment of the independent republic of Azerbaijan in 1991.
A significant feature of the present day is that no person can live without any mutual relations with other people, and in that sense, any ethnic generality is not capable to exist in absolute isolation from other people. Practically each ethnos is to some extent open for contacts and perceptions of cultural achievements of other ethnos and simultaneously ready to share own cultural achievements and values. The Azeri minority was influenced to many factors during the various regimes and geopolitical changes in Iran which require a thorough study of the Azerbaijani ethnic factor in Iranian society. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the Turkish media in Iran and the media in general on the formation of the identity of the Azeri minority.
Despite the rather successful development of intercultural contacts, there are still problems in the formation of ethnic identities. This phenomenon, when the minorities are guided by the ethnic commonality, with which they connects their expectations, plans, and status. The demonstrations in Iran in regards of the cartoons that ridiculed Azeri language, show the existent difference in the statuses of the Azeri minority, where the social status is still correlated between the large proportion of the Azeri elite and at the same time being ridiculed in the Iranian society. In that sense, this study is significant in enlightening the effect of the media on the restoration of Azeri identity.
The research question is investigating the relation between the positive media portrayal of minorities and their self-esteem as well as the realization of their identity in the society. Thus the main research hypothesis states that, Turkish media has positively contributed to enhancing and developing the identity of Azeri minority in Iran.
The study does not intend to address the effect of the past on the current consideration of the Azeri status. In that sense, the research cannot serve as an indication of the gradual development of the Azeri identity through several generations. The limitations of the study include the sample population which is middle class and middle age participant, which is the majority of the Azeri population. Although, it is believed that minorities from upper social class would not change the results of the study, the research cannot be generalized among all social groups of Azeri minorities.
Review of literature
In “Iran and the challenge of diversity”, Asgharzadeh emphasizes the importance of language in assessing one’s identity. The author argues that, “An acknowledgment of the right to self-expression and self-definition will empower the subordinated groups to self-identify and self-designate their own identity. That is why so much emphasis has been placed on the ability to use one’s own language to articulate one’s own condition.” (Asgharzadeh) In that sense, the author put an importance on the way language is used to identify certain minority groups and how the same identifications were changed depending on who put these definitions. The importance of modern communication tools is also observed through the work of Asgharzadeh, as “Marginalized communities have now more access to information relevant to their condition produced by members of their own community, members of other similar communities, as well as international sources” (Asgharzadeh 202)
In “Borders and brethren”, Shaffer states that the ethnic or national Azerbaijani identity contains tensions between the territorial aspects of Azerbaijan and the civic identity of the independent republic of Azerbaijan.” (Shaffer 205) The strengthening of the Islamic Republic in 1980s served as a turning point in the shift of the image of Azerbaijanis Soviet-oriented intellectuals, which “contributed to the popularisation of a comprehensive approach of Azerbaijani nationality” (“Southern Azerbaijan: Fortunes and Misfortunes of a Geopolitical Representation”), into image that required recognition of cultural rights. Shaffer also pointed out the importance of the portrayal of Azeri people in shifting the negative image in Iran’s media, as “many pointed out that for the first time they saw the “Turk” portrayed in a positive light-educated, successful, wealthy-in contrast with the image presented in Iranian media…”. (Shaffer 174)
In “Iranian Azerbaijan: A Brewing Hotspot”, the author pointed to studies that revised the disregard in regards the Azeri identity in Iran. The authors refer the strong following of the ethnic Azeri Ayatollah Shari’at Madari contributed to that “a separate and distinct Azerbaijani identity has been growing among the citizens of north-western Iran”, which made it an “issue Iran treated with utmost caution.” (Cornell) Additionally, in “We the media”, Gillmor addressed the power of journalism in the era of new technology, web blogs specifically, in helping to reveal the truth in repressed countries. “Iranians, who live in a repressive country with strict controls on media, were able to speak out and access a variety of news and opinions.” (Gillmor 141)
The literature is showing that there is certain gap in the information regarding the factors that contribute to the assessment of the positive image of the minorities in Iran, mostly concentrating on their perceptions by Iranians, rather than on perceptions among the Azeri themselves.
Method
The study was designed as a quantitative analysis of a data collected from a questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed in a way that the independent variable is the portrayal of Azeri minority in the media, Turkish television to be specific. This variable was also manipulated with several examples from different excerpts of chosen newspapers that mention news related to ethnic minorities. The dependent variable is the perception of the participant in regard of such images, and the way he/she are treated.
The participants of the study were randomly chosen from Azerbaijani people residing in Iran. The total number of the sample was 100 people, mostly young to middle aged. Additionally, 50 questionnaires were made in electronic format and distributed in popular Iranian-Azerbaijani web blogs and forums. An additional method was implemented in analyzing media resources for a chosen month and measuring the way ethnic minority was portrayed. These measured was ranked on a scale of three, where one was positive, two neutral, and three negative.
The conducted questionnaire consisted of 15 questions. Some of the data collected was not directly affecting the topic of the survey, but merely to identify and group the categories of the participants for statistical purposes. For categorical grouping variables, participants were asked to circle the word that best indicated their (a) female or male gender; (b) ethnicity; (c) age; (d) level of educational degree; (e) occupation. The main question that the survey should answer is what type of portrayal will/did discourage or promoted the participants’ association with their national identity.
The pre-test procedures was merely in analyzing the data collected from media resources which should be combined with the data collected from the questionnaire.
The main design is experimental with quantitative discrete data. From the used printed questionnaires, 80 questionnaires were filled, whereas merely half of the electronic variants were replied.
The collected data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel, where the printed data was entered manually and the electronic versions were automatically filled.
Clearly, male participants were prevailing in the data collected, which might affect the validity of the experiment. From the sub-analysis of the data collected from media sources, it was found that 80% of the headlines were neutral in the defined period, while 10% was hard to identify, and the rest was mainly negative. The analysis of the questionnaires showed a direct correlation between the positive image of the Azeri minority and their association with their direct ethnic group, this was apparent even in categories of young participants. In the same manner the negative portrayal revealed the exact opposite results.
Pedagogical Implications
The implications of that study show the great importance of the media in associating a certain group with their national identity. In the conditions of more and more intensified international relations, the increasing interrelation of the separate countries, nations, whole regions and continents from each other, the value of psychological factors as well as the media portraying such factors, inevitably increases in the regulation of intercultural interaction. Thus, by controlling the way the media considers the status of the minorities, the position of minorities among themselves could be sufficiently enhanced and developed.
References
Asgharzadeh, Alireza. Iran and the Challenge of Diversity: Islamic Fundamentalism, Aryanist Racism, and Democratic Struggles. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Cornell, Svante. “Iranian Azerbaijan: A Brewing Hotspot.” “Human Rights and Ethnicity in Iran”. Cornell Caspian Consulting.
Gillmor, Dan. We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. 1st ed. Beijing; Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2004.
Gollust, David. “Us Cites Systematic Repression of Iranian Dissidents, Minorities”. 2007. South Azerbaijan.
Shaffer, Brenda. Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity. Bcsia Studies in International Security. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.
“Southern Azerbaijan: Fortunes and Misfortunes of a Geopolitical Representation.” The new geopolitics and changing territorialities: between international studies and political geography.