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Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy

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File:Iran Azeri Cartoon.jpg
Cartoon that started the controversy. The boy trys to address the cockroach using different forms of Soosk (Persian word for cockroach) but it only answers Namana (Azeri language for What?)

The Azeri cartoon controversy in "Iran" newspaper arose over a cartoon, published in the Iranian state-run newspaper Iran and drawn by the cartoonist Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Azeri himself . The cartoon, published in the children's section of the newspaper on May 12, 2006, allegedly insulted the Azerbaijani people by depicting a child speaking in Persian to a cockroach, which was replying in the Azerbaijani language, saying "namana" ("what?").

The controversy resulted in massive riots throughout Iran in May 2006, most ostensibly in the predominantly Azerbaijani-populated city of Tabriz. The riots were violent in some cases, with protestors damaging public buildings and throwing stones, prompting the reaction from the Iranian police.

The Iranian government promptly responded to the events by temporarily shutting down the Iran newspaper, arresting the cartoonist and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Mehrdad Ghasemfar. It further accused "outside forces in playing nationalistic card".

Possible foreign interference

See also: Iran's ethnic minorities and foreign interference

Emad Afrough, head of the Majlis Cultural Commission at the time, said that pan-Turks were involved in creating the tensions. Other members of the Iranian government blamed it on the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom with a suspicion of inciting ethnic strife in Iran.

According to Touraj Atabaki, well known expert on Iran's Azerbaijani minority, there might be some truth behind Iranian government's allegations of a foreign plot, yet the responsibility for the unrest lies first and formost with the central government.

References

  1. "Cockroach Cartoonist Jailed In Iran". The Comics Reporter. May 24, 2006.
  2. "Iranian paper banned over cartoon". BBC News. May 23, 2006.
  3. "IFJ Criticises "Political Interference" as Cartoons Rows Put Journalists in Jail in Iran and Jordan". International Federation of Journalists. June 3, 2006.
  4. "IRAN: Azeris unhappy at being butt of national jokes". IRIN. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). May 25, 2006.
  5. Iran Focus
  6. Daria Vaisman. "The other cartoon protests: Large demonstrations broke out across Iran in May 2006 to protest a cartoon insulting to Azeris", The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 2007
  7. Iran-daily
  8. Iran: Cartoon protests signal Azeri frustration