Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
First of all, welcome to the subcommittee. Your presence here is special, particularly considering that the Iranian Constitution supposedly guarantees certain rights, notably language and cultural rights. Not only are you waging your own battle, you are also fighting on behalf of all minorities, whether it be for the Kurds, the Baloutches or the Arabs. Your battle is a battle waged by all ethnic minorities that believe basic rights such as the right to one's own culture, education and language must be upheld.
You used the word “assimilation“ in your presentation, but so far, I haven't heard you use the word “genocide“. Yet, some claim that there have been signs of this in some provinces. I read the following headline somewhere: “Genocide of Azerbaijanis in Khodjali“.
In your opinion, would you qualify what is happening today in certain provinces as a genocide?