Araz News: ANRO Wrote Letter of Protest to VOA. The letter is addressed to Mr. Jeffrey Shell, the Chairman of Broadcasting Board of Governors and is signed by ANRO official Mr. Babek Chalabiyanli.

The letter is as below:

October 28, 2014

Jeffrey Shell

Chairman

Broadcasting Board of Governors

330 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20237

Dear Honorable Chairman Shell,

The Azerbaijani National Resistance Organization (ANRO), an organization that works to defend the rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran, is pleased to learn of calls made by members of Congress to conduct an investigation into VOA’s Persian News Network for its pro-Iranian bias and unjust censorship of those critical of the regime. For several years, we have had our own concerns that VOA had been censoring and blacklisting several members of the Azerbaijani ethnic minority for reporting on events that were counter to the government’s narrative.

I am sure that you are aware that there are well over 30 million ethnic Azerbaijani-Turks current residing in Iran as the country’s largest ethnic minority group. While most of this demographic has received education to understand VOA’s broadcasts in Farsi, not all of this demographic is proficient enough to do so. The state-run media in Iran deliberately censors all information relating to the Azerbaijani cultural and linguistic rights movement. Thus we are deeply troubled by VOA’s restriction of news and information on Iran’s ethnic Azerbaijanis. Currently, there are dozens of ethnic Azerbaijani ‘prisoners of conscience’ serving harsh sentences for peacefully advocating their rights, none of who are actively discussed on VOA broadcasts. And this is deeply troublesome considering that of the total arrests made in Iran, Azerbaijanis constitute the largest number of peaceful activists that are being arrested. Despite this, no true experts on the Azerbaijani rights movement have ever been interviewed on VOAprograms. Those “Azerbaijani experts” who have been invited to speak on the matter have usually taken a vehemently pro-Iranian stance, are not qualified to provide information on this movement, and have distorted facts in several instances. There have even been reports of ethnic-based discrimination against Azerbaijanis within the organization itself.

We, the members of the ANRO, request that the BBG investigate the anti-Azerbaijani programing and discrimination and look into lifting the restrictions imposed on news from the Azerbaijani-populated regions of (Northwestern) Iran. We request that the VOA PNN only interview qualified Azerbaijanis who do not speak from a pro-government bias (a list can be provided upon request) along with providing a modest time slot for programs in the Turkish (Azerbaijani) language for those Azerbaijanis in Iran who lack proficiency in Farsi.

Thank you for your consideration and we are available for further correspondence.

Sincerely yours,

Babek Chalabiyanli

Spokesman

Azerbaijan National Resistance Organization