Iran's Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei met yesterday with people from East Azerbaijan province – Azerbaijanis – at the Imam Khomeini Hosseiniyeh in Tehran. The meeting was held in connection with the next anniversary of the historic uprising of Tabriz residents against the Shah's regime on February 18, 1978.
Modern.az reports that Turkish journalist Gürkan Demir prepared a report on Khamenei's meeting with the people of Tabriz.
The journalist, sharing on his social media account, stated that the most frequently chanted slogan in the hall was "Azerbaijan is honor, Pahlavi is dishonor."
According to him, more than 1000 people from Tabriz emphasized their loyalty to the Islamic Republic during the meeting.
“I was the only Turkish media representative participating in the meeting. I represented “Ulusal” channel and “Aydınlık” newspaper there,” the journalist noted.
According to Gürkan Demir, military personnel, police officers, political officials, religious scholars, and ordinary citizens from Tabriz had come to the meeting with Khamenei:
“There were those who came with their babies and those in wheelchairs...
The father of Tabriz's Friday Imam, who died in the helicopter crash along with former President Ebrahim Raisi, was also among the participants... The fan group of East Azerbaijan's leading football team, “Tractor,” was also there. They had come with team scarves and jackets. They also unfurled an Iranian flag they had brought with them, bearing the inscription "Long Live Azerbaijan."
When Ayatollah Khamenei entered, those in the hall stirred. Some even shed tears of joy and excitement. They held photographs of Tabriz police and soldiers who had been martyred in the 12-day Iran-Israel war.”
The Turkish journalist stated that the people of Tabriz who met with Khamenei chanted several slogans and sang elegies and hymns in Persian and Azerbaijani Turkish.
“A specially composed hymn was sung loudly and simultaneously.
Some of the slogans chanted were:
- Azerbaijan is honor, Pahlavi is dishonor!;
- Azerbaijan is awake, a pillar of the revolution!;
- Azerbaijan will give blood, will give life to the revolution!;
- Azerbaijan, the brave, inseparable from Khamenei!;
- We are ready to die, we are Khamenei's soldiers!;
- Allahu Akbar, Khamenei is the leader!”
According to Gürkan Demir, during the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei praised and thanked the East Azerbaijanis for demonstrating a mature stance during the January unrest.
“During the approximately three-hour meeting, I had the opportunity to both converse with citizens and conduct interviews. Those who came from East Azerbaijan primarily stated: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives and blood for our leader and our homeland! We stand behind our leader in every situation. We will overcome economic, political, and military difficulties!” the Turkish journalist wrote.
