TUrmu and Tebriz, the twin cities of Southern Azerbaijan watching over Lake Urmu from West and East, brought their environmental campaign to a climax on 3 September 2011 and this document updates you on the key events further to Briefing Note 1 (Ref: 545/2011 on 30 August 2011), as follows:
• The protests materialized just before 6.00 p.m. as per time in Tebriz and jus half an hour later this bold act materialized in Tebriz; both inspired each other.
• The Azerbaijani activists brought to life the protests orchestrated in the cities centres to the screen of GünAzTV, the national TV of Southern Azerbaijanis broadcasting from Chicago, not before long circa 18.30 and this was a concrete proof for the event.
• Protests then materialized in many districts of both Urmu and Tebriz
• Protesters surrounded the provincial governor’s offices in both Tebriz and Urmu but to prove that they were only focused on campaigning for saving Lake Urmu, they did not capture the offices.
• The protesters were in control of the streets and had upper hands over the security agents.
• All the Azerbaijani police forces had withdrawn from interfering with the wishes of the protesters.
• The Iranian authorities bear the full responsibilities for swamping Southern Azerbaijan by occupationist forces dispatched from Persia, who intimidated the public, disturbed the peace, committed arson, opened fire against peaceful protesters, arrested hundreds of peaceful protester, opened fire against them and wounded many; it was reported that one individual in Urmu and one in Tebriz were killed by the invading forces.
• The triumphant protestors carried on with their peaceful protests till very late in the evening
• The provocations were instigated by the invading forces, depriving the protestors of their human rights to protest.
• All the slogans were in Azerbaijani Turkic and focused on the deliberate disaster of Lake Urmu.
• All the other major cities of Southern Azerbaijan were militarized by the invading forces of Iran and in spite of these tense conditions, mini protests materialized in Salmas and Qoshachay.
• The demands of the protestors are clear and an example is presented in Table 1.


This Briefing Note just aims to provide you an overview and therefore we have not compiled the names of the detainees which have been published in Southern Azerbaijani websites. The various media outside Southern Azerbaijan have covered the news in some detail but they were comparatively economical with truth. For instance, the BBC covered the event (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14780708) but was contented with technical detail. In the circumstance, not providing the full information but sufficing to the official news is the appeasement of the Iranian authorities. Equally, we hold that silence is only the appeasement of the Iranian aggression again the Southern Azerbaijani environmentalists. We therefore expect actions from your office and equally from Amnesty International. We are surprised for insufficient actions from all the democratic and human rights organizations. Such silence also encourages the Iranian opposition groups to fuel their misinformation campaigns and carry on with their racist propaganda by misappropriating the events as the acts of the Iranians against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the policies of Iran are disastrous to Southern Azerbaijan, but the ongoing protest are only for saving Lake Urmu and the Iranian-centric oppositions must stop politicizing this campaign. If all of the democratic measures are exhausted, the nation of Azerbaijan in Southern Azerbaijan will explore all the other options. We also draw your attention that the Kurdish terrorism and their sympathisers are plagiarizing the ongoing Azerbaijani protests as a pretext for inciting racial conflicts, one possible example is given in Table 2. Disinformation sustained by the democratic organisations encourages such terrorist sympathizers to feather the ongoing Southern Azerbaijani popular protests for their own nests by misappropriation.

Although we aaim to compile the names later, we would like to bring our concern to your attention that the Iranian authorities are increasing harassing Mr Abbas Leysanli, the veteran activist of Southern Azerbaijan in Erdebil. Mrs Feranek Ferid, has also been reported to be detained, who is a veteran feminist, human rights defender and an activist of Southern Azerbaijani activist.

Also, Southern Azerbaijan needs your support, otherwise racist elements in Iran and terrorists are already engaged with feathering this peaceful environmental campaign for their own nests and in this way, they aim to perpetuate the damage being inflicted on Lake Urmu. We are very hopeful that you will act according to your mandates to save Lake Urmu and make representations for the reinstatement of human rights of the Southern Azerbaijani victims of the aggression by the Iranian authorities.

Yours faithfully,
Boyuk Resuloglu

The Committee for the Defence of the Rights of World Azerbaijanis