Voice of America Lift The Ban on South Azerbaijan

To:  Voice of America

To: Voice of America Office of Public Affairs
330 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20237
Tel: (202) 203-4959
Fax: (202) 203-4960
E-mail: publicaffairs@voa.gov
www.VOANews.com

: VOA’s Broadcasting Board of Governors,
: Mr. Danforth Austin VOA Director,
: Ms. Marie Lennon, Chie of Staff,

: Mr. William Marsh, Senior Advisor,

: Russ Hodge, Director of VOA Television,

: Kelu Chao, Associate Director for Language Programming,

: Mark L. Prahl, Associate Director for Operations,

From: South Azerbaijani Independence Party

In the first segment of VOA’s charter it reads:
1. VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
Now, if we highlight the words “accurate”, “objective”, and “comprehensive”, we can’t help falling in the contradiction and confusion when we listen to VOA’s Persian section. What we hear from VOA’s Persian section, which is supposedly targeting “Iranians”, is not representing over 65\% of the so called Iranian non-Persian population. News and information about South Azerbaijani rights movement are boycotted and censured. News and information about South Azerbaijan is completely biased and one sided as if Iran’s terrorist regime is running the station. When hundreds of thousands of South Azerbaijani Turks pour to streets of Tabriz, Urmiye, Erdebil, Zangan, Qoshachay (miyandab), Maragha, Khoy, Salmas, ….. to protest against Persian occupation, when they protest against the most dangerous form of terrorist government in the world, when South Azerbaijani Turks are falling in the streets of our cities, when they are kidnapped from their homes and works and tortured, maimed and murdered by Persian terrorist government’s forces, what we hear from VOA’s Persian section? There were some disturbances and unruliness in Tabriz which were sustained by security forces! What a shame! So much for “reliability” and “accuracy”!
We have a simple and clear question: If this broadcasting is for “Iranians”, why then we only and only hear everything from only Persian apartheid regime’s perspective?
In the third segment of VOA’s charter it reads:
3. VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies.
(Public Law 94-350)
Also in the definition of (BBG) it reads:
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) • The BBG is an independent federal agency that oversees all non-military U.S. international broadcasting, including the Voice of America. • The bi-partisan Board is comprised of nine members, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, including the Secretary of State. • Its mission is "To promote and sustain freedom and democracy by broadcasting accurate and objective news and information about the United States and the world to audiences overseas."
It is fair to assume that “an independent federal agency” would be run with tax payer’s money. That would mean that Americans of South Azerbaijani origin would pay for their oppressor’s voice to be heard around the world by the means of VOA. Isn’t that strange? But is it true. Now in the VOA’s Persian section we hear interviews promoting Iran’s expansionist policies towards new impendent Turkish republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, and others. We hear Persian supremacist chauvinist voices from VOA!
How this will and can “promote and sustain freedom and democracy”? When citizens of United States of America are sent around the world to fight for “democracy” and “freedom”, how then VOA is acting as a mouthpiece of the most horrible regime in the world, Islamic Republic of Iran?

With Regards

South Azerbaijani Independence Party

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Voice of America Lift The Ban on South Azerbaijan Petition to Voice of America was created by South Azerbaijani Independence Party and written by Saleh Ildirim (gaip@gaip.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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