Araz News: 18 Tractor fans have been tried in 104 branch of Tabriz general law court by Judge Mr. Habibi.
According to South Azerbaijani sources names of defendants are as below:
1- Babak Azar Nezhad
2- Vahid Amir Yar
3- Hossein Haji Mohammadi
4- Siamak Irani
5- Yaser Fathi
6- Said Ashtiani
7- Mostafa Amir Khizi
8- Ali Reza Bayat
9- Hossein Bayat
10- Ali Ali Pour
11- Said Shabani
12- Mousa Sudi
13- Ali Ahmadi
14- Ksara Davoudi
15- Siamak Seifi
16- Hossein Khaki
17- Yavar Mohammad Pour
18- Mrs. Matin Parzhan
Aside tractor fans from Tabriz there are many defendants from other South Azerbaijani cities like Ardabil, Bonab, Chalderan and Meshkin Shahr who had come to Tabriz to Tabriz to support Tractor Club.
Eye witnesses report more than 300 fans were arrested in the football match between Tractor of South Azerbaijan and Al-Jazeera of Qatar.
Azerbaijani Turks consider Tractor Sazi team as a national issue.
During the matches of Tactor Sazi football team usually fans shout slogans and show banners to sound human rights of Azerbaijani community in Iran.
Lake Urmia’s drying problem is a focal point in Tractor fans demonstrations.
In the last years the sport matches in South Azerbaijan have become a field for South Azerbaijani Turkic people to demonstrate their national aspirations. Especially matches of Tractor Sazi Football Club of Tabriz are focused. Frequently tens of thousands of fans come to Tabriz from all South Azerbaijan provinces (Urmia, Zanjan, Ardabil, etc.) to support Tractor and also to make national demonstrations.
Azerbaijani Turks are second largest ethnic group in Iran with a slight difference after Persians.
South Azerbaijan which is majorly populated by ethnic Turks is an ethnically problematic region in Iran which Iran spends efforts to hold the nationalist tendency of region under control.