TABRIZ, South Azerbaijan

Araz News: A the first edition of a new online magazine focused on human rights violations against Azerbaijanis in Iran has been published.

The magazine aims to be a groundbreaking source for the plight of ethnic Azerbaijani-Turks in Iran and their quest for linguistic and cultural rights.

The magazine also features detailed accounts of Azerbaijani human rights defenders, their actions, lives, arrests, prison sentences, and how they are treated in custody.

While “Haray” is currently only published in Farsi, the magazine’s authors, who have chosen to stay anonymous, hope to expand to wider audiences in the future.

The interjection “Haray” references the popular Azerbaijani chant “Haray Haray Men Türkem!” (Haray Haray I’m a Turk!), which is an expression of Azerbaijani “Turkicness,” a part of Azerbaijani identity that has been suppressed under systemic racism for decades. The chant is often heard during protests in South Azerbaijan and is the title of a song by the South Azerbaijani musician Araz Elses.

The first issue of “Haray” can be found online, posted on Araz New’s Farsi language site.