How did a fifth-grade Azerbaijani history textbook cover “shake” Iran?

A social media page run by Persian users has shared the cover of an earlier edition of Azerbaijan’s fifth-grade History of Azerbaijan textbook, accompanied by the comment: “Good luck to Aliyev and Erdoğan with their ambitions in Tabriz.”

Bringing an old school textbook cover back into the spotlight and portraying it as evidence of territorial ambitions on the part of the Azerbaijani and Turkish leaders is nothing more than cheap manipulation.

It should be particularly noted that the map at the centre of the textbook cover depicts Azerbaijan’s historical lands and historical geography. Tabriz is also an important centre within this historical geography, having served for centuries as the capital of major states in Azerbaijani history, including the Safavid Empire. Schoolchildren have every right to learn about their people’s historical past and lands. Portraying a historical map as a modern political claim is an absurd approach.

The apparent aim is to undermine the strategic alliance between Baku and Ankara. By exploiting the issue of Tabriz, attempts are being made to manufacture a fictitious image of a “threat” and sow seeds of suspicion across the region. However, inventing a political crisis over a historical map in a textbook makes no logical sense.

Religious and ideological circles that cannot accept Azerbaijan’s secular model of statehood and sovereignty frequently resort to such tactics. Those who yesterday sought to exert ideological pressure through school uniforms are now targeting our historical maps. Although the subjects change, the goal remains the same: to turn Azerbaijan’s domestic affairs and national memory into instruments of political confrontation.

Just as historical truths cannot be changed, describing the Azerbaijani people’s efforts to learn about their historical lands and past as “ambition” is equally absurd.

Such ideological provocations serve only to sow discord in the region.

Jala Rovshan