Speaker: Thank you. Mr President. On the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the UN
declaration of the rights of persons belonging to ethnic, religious linguistic minorities. The
present position and treatment of minorities have not been improved in recent years. The
Islamic Republic of Iran has continued to expose national minorities to serious threats,
discrimination and racism. Minorities in Iran are even deprived of their fundamental right to
educate in their own mother language. Mr. Special Rapporteur, the experience of Azerbaijanis
in Iran shows that they find themselves turning into internally displaced people at the brink of
destitution - cut off from their own cultural roots. Or they have to immigrate abroad to escape
conflict, racism and other forms of discrimination. Azerbaijan women are subjected to double
discrimination - being women and belonging to a minority. All the minorities - Azerbaijan, turks
[inaudible], Kurds, [inaudible] are excluded from any meaningful sustainable development. They
suffer from hate speech and hate crimes on social media. Their aspirations are crushed. We
see increased [inaudible] tantamount to genocide. Our association expressed concern that
minority issues are a low priority on the UN agenda. Now it is the time to rethink the declaration
and bring it back on track. We recommend that the UN examines the current declaration and
reflects on reforming it and makes the declaration topical in its programs. Thank you.