Baku, October 26, AZERTAC

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Science and Education has expressed concern and regret over remarks made by Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei-Sarraf concerning education in Azerbaijan.
In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Science and Education described the remarks as an attempt to interfere in the country’s internal affairs. The ministry stressed that no one would be allowed to interfere in Azerbaijan’s domestic affairs, including its education policy, and that any such attempts would be firmly rebuffed.
The ministry urged Iranian officials to focus on addressing their own country’s problems rather than interfering in the internal affairs of other states. The statement noted that, as a result of Iran’s policies, no school or higher education institution in the country provides instruction in Azerbaijani. It stressed that this is despite the fact that approximately 40 million ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran and have been denied the right to receive an education in their mother tongue for decades.
The statement emphasized that Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology, as well as other Iranian officials who have commented on the issue, should focus on addressing these problems and remedying decades of injustice rather than interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs.