Turkish poem censorship for Iranian President Pezeshkian: Speech interrupted following official's warning

During a program he attended in Tabriz, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's speech, in which he intended to recite the poem "Greetings to Heydar Baba" by the famous Tabriz poet Shahriyar, was interrupted by officials organizing the event. An official who came onto the stage showed Pezeshkian a warning note not to recite the poem. Reacting to the official's warning, he stated that 'no harm would come from reading a poem in Turkish.' Pezeshkian's words were met with applause from those attending the event.

At the closing ceremony of Tabriz Culture Week, Pezeshkian recited verses from the poem "Greetings to Heydar Baba" in Azerbaijani Turkish, written by the famous Turkish poet Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known by the name Shahriyar.

Before reciting the poem, Pezeshkian mentioned that he would read two lines of poetry from Shahriyar, but that officials had objected to him speaking in Turkish because there were people in the hall who did not understand the language. He then began to recite the following lines:

''Heyder Baba, igit emek itirmez / Ömür geçer efsus bere bitirmez / Namerd olan ömrü başa yetirmez / Biz de vallah unutmarık sizleri / Görenmesek helal edin bizleri.''

As he continued to recite the poem, an official was seen approaching Pezeshkian to warn him. Upon this, Pezeshkian smiled and said, 'There is no problem, reading two lines of a Turkish poem will not cause any issues.' Those in the hall applauded Pezeshkian's remarks.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also recited a poem by Shahriyar during his visit to Tabriz in 2006. The people of Tabriz joined Ahmadinejad as he recited his poem in Azerbaijani Turkish.

News Source: AA