Representation of the Azerbaijani Minority in Iran’s Media and Significance of the Turkish Media

Abstract

Absence or negative portrayal of ethnic minorities in media has always been one of the challenges facing ethnic minorities. Such exclusion or misrepresentation of ethnic minorities can cause serious problems among the dominant ethnic group and the minorities living within the same geographic borders. When the minorities do not see themselves appropriately mirrored or adequately represented in the media, they find themselves in a situation in which they lose their feeling of belonging to the country where they live. Therefore, such mis/under-representation of ethnic minorities could provoke serious divisions among the dominant and ethnic minorities. In Iran, 25-30 million Azerbaijanis who live in Iran are stereotypically represented in the Iranian media and negative, comical or exotic stereotypes are depicted while mirroring them. That is to the extent that the Azerbaijani minority prefers not to watch the Iranian media. In contrast, the Turkish media is unbelievably popular among Azerbaijanis who live in Iran. Almost all Azerbaijanis who live inside Iran watch Turkish channels through Turksat. The large number of channels provided by Turkish media is enjoyed by a large number of people ranging from children to adults. Hence, the influential role and popularity of the Turkish media among Azerbaijanis are indisputable. In this study, at first, the under-representation and misrepresentation of the Azerbaijani minority in the Iranian media are taken into close account and then the reasons behind the popularity of the Turkish media among the Azerbaijanis living in Iran will be discussed.

Keywords: Azerbaijani minority, under-representation, mis-representation