Mahmudali Chehreganli, an exiled leader of the National Movement of South Azerbaijan, who has been officialsly not welcome in his motherland for years for his outspoken activity against the Mullah regime, hopes to be allowed to enter Baku, where he got last showen to the door, reportedly after pressure of Tehran, seven years ago…
In an interview with TURAN in his Virginia-based apartment, professor and popular leader former Tabriz University, who are still accepted by many as one of the most powerful figures against Iranian mullah regime, said, he aims to rejoin the nation “to explain the new difficulties that the region has faced recently.”
“Time for a family gathering… I strongly feel the need to rejoin my nation, get its spirit, moral, share my concerns and then return back…continue struggling,” he told TURAN’s Washington DC correspondent prior of his expected trip to Baku.
“I don’t see any reason for not being allowed to Baku to join my own sisters and brothers there,” he said.
The move comes days after Iran’s moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani was inaugurated as a new president in Tehran, a ceremony that his Azerbaijani counterpart refused to join personally, while local analysts see it as the latest sign of deteriorating ties between Tehran and Baku.
Chehreganli, Rowhani –like other Iranian presidents — will continue aggressive dictatorship policy of the ruling clerics’ towards Azerbaijanis, although the regional developments demand for Azeris to get an initiative for their self-determination and independence so that historical chance “cannot be missed”.
“It’s a long path, but our struggle has been effective: Azeris are not scared of the mullahs anymore.”
Meantime, he emphasized that the struggle for Azerbaijanis‘ mother tongue and other basic rights requires the support of Baku and of course, the international democratic community.
Chehreganli will arrive in Baku on August 15, at 21.30, local time.