In recent months, we have attempted to analyze the identity crisis faced by the Azerbaijan Turks living in Iran in the pages of Daily Sabah. The Azerbaijan Turks are not the only Turkic-origin community living in Iran. Beyond them stand two other significant Turkic groups, the Qashqai and the Turkmen of Sahra, who together constitute the second-largest Turkic population in Iran after the Azerbaijan Turks. Their story, too, is central to understanding Iran’s evolving ethnic and political landscape.

The Qashqai Turks in the southern provinces of Fars and Isfahan, and the Turkmen Sahra Turks in the northeastern regions of Gilan and North Khorasan, face similar challenges regarding political and cultural rights. These ancient Turkic communities actively fight to preserve their native languages and cultural identities as assimilation policies seek to erode them.

Assimilation policies targeting the Turkic presence in Iran systematically began after the overthrow of the Turkic Qajar Dynasty in 1925, when the Pahlavi regime took power. The Pahlavis, who adopted a pan-Iranianist and Persian nationalist ideology, viewed the Turks as threats and launched comprehensive assimilation campaigns against all Turkic peoples in the country. After the Islamic Revolution, these policies appeared in different forms. Although Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution theoretically allows the use of local languages and dialects in education and the media, authorities never allowed Turkic to be used in education. By imposing Persian as the sole language of education, the state excluded language (one of the most important elements of Turkic identity) from public life. The state's disregard for the language and culture of Turkic communities in Iran has laid the foundations for generations of identity erosion.

Qashqai people

The Qashqai are a Turkic community of approximately 3 million people in southern Iran, known for their nomadic traditions. The Qashqai, who lived a nomadic lifestyle until the mid-20th century, were forced into a settled life under various pressures during the Pahlavi period. The state wanted to erase their tribal names by translating the Turkic names of their settlements into Persian. During this process, wearing traditional clothing in public was banned. The Qashqai can wear their national costumes only at home, weddings and celebrations. Disconnected from their nomadic lifestyle, the Qashqai also faced economic hardship in the cities. As the language of education is Persian, Qashqai children struggle when they start school, and Qashqai Turkic is increasingly spoken only at home. Although approximately 70% of Qashqai youth are university graduates, most can only find work in the private sector and are not represented in high positions in the public sector. The Qashqai primarily demand the right to education in their native language and the opportunity for press and publication in the Turkic language.

Unlike other large ethnic groups in Iran, the Qashqai do not have a province named after them. A petition was launched in 2020 to address this situation, but it received no response from the government. The Qashqai Turks, who are resisting assimilation policies, have begun to make their voices heard more in recent years. At the end of 2024, the Qashqai protested pressure on their culture by organizing demonstrations in their traditional clothing, in response to the Iranian government's registration of Qashqai national clothing as Lur culture. The Qashqai community demands more interaction with the Turkic world to prevent the younger generation from losing their sense of identity. Indeed, Qashqai intellectuals emphasize that establishing cultural and educational bridges with their compatriots is vital for preserving national identity, stating that "if the Qashqai remain distant from the Turkic world, they will eventually become Persianized.”

Turkmen of Sahra

The Turkmen Sahra region, stretching between the Caspian Sea and the Turkmenistan border in northeastern Iran, is home to approximately 2 million Turkmen Sahra Turks. The Turkmen, the majority of whom are Sunni-Hanafi, are historically an important part of Oghuz Turkic culture. As a result of the Ahal Treaty signed between Tsarist Russia and Iran in 1881, the northern part of the ancient Turkmen homeland remained in Russia, while the southern part remained in Iran. The southern Turkmen lands (Turkmen Sahra), left under Iranian rule, were neglected by the central government for a long time and treated as stepchildren.

In 1924-25, local leaders declared a short-lived Turkmen Sahra Republic in the region. Osman Ahund led this republican initiative and organized an "Aksakallar Council" (Council of Elders) of wise men from the Turkmen tribes to govern. However, Reza Pahlavi’s forces brutally suppressed this independence attempt with a harsh military intervention. After crushing the uprising, the Pahlavi regime took complete administrative control of the region, established Farsi schools to promote Persian culture, forcibly settled the nomadic Turkmen, and resettled other ethnic groups to alter the region's demographic structure. These policies became known as a comprehensive assimilation campaign targeting the Turkic presence in the Turkmen steppe.

Although Turkmen use their own language in daily life, most cannot read or write Turkic because they received their education in Persian. While the Turkic language and culture have been preserved to some extent through oral transmission within families and communities, younger generations' command of the language is weakening. Turkmen Sahra Turks are also disadvantaged in terms of political and legal representation. The provinces of Gilan and Khorasan, where they live, have mixed ethnic groups in their administrative structures, so the Turkmen do not have an administrative unit named after them. Although deputies are elected to the Parliament from the region, the representation of Turkmen identity in local government and central decision-making bodies is very limited. The constant postponement of the right to education in their native language and the obstruction of cultural activities make this community feel "forgotten.”

Resisting assimilation

The Qashqai and Turkmen Sahra Turks are ancient Turkic communities fighting for language, education and cultural rights within the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result of assimilation policies, they struggle with serious problems such as being unable to receive education in their mother tongue, restrictions on cultural freedom of expression and a lack of representation in decision-making mechanisms. This situation not only leads to practices that violate international human rights norms but also poses the risk of the gradual erosion of these communities' identities. Increased civil society initiatives and protests in recent years have begun to bring the demands of these Turkic communities to the world's attention. Hearing these voices is important not only for neighboring and related communities but also for Iran's social peace and cultural richness.

The central argument is that the Iranian Turks' efforts to preserve their native languages and cultural identities require greater recognition and support from the Turkic world. Increased solidarity is needed to prevent assimilation and to ensure these communities can maintain their dignity and distinct identities.