Al-Monitor- For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, Turkic-speaking lawmakers�have formed a bloc in the Iranian parliament. The Faction of Turkic Regions�was formed in late October. It has been reported to have 100 members�in the 290-seat parliament and is led by Masoud Pezeshkian, who represents the northwestern city of Tabriz and who served as minister of health (2001-2005) under Reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Controversy has surrounded the formation of this faction since its inception. This has mainly had to do with the stated number of its members.�Iran�s election law grants each province a certain number of lawmakers based on its population. In this vein, the main Turkic-speaking provinces and their respective number of members of parliament include West Azerbaijan with 12 parliamentarians, East Azerbaijan with 19, Ardebil with seven�and Zanjan with five. Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province�as well as the provinces of Gilan and Fars�also have Turkic-speaking populations, but the origins and history of these Turkic-speakers are very different from those who reside in the northwest of Iran. While ethnic Persians constitute a slight majority of Iranians, Turkic speakers make up a sizable minority.

Based on these figures, one would expect the newly formed Turkic-speaking faction to have no more than 43 members. So how is it that it counts 100 lawmakers among its members? Zahra Sai, a Tabriz member of parliament and spokeswoman for the faction, has said, �Lawmakers who speak Turkic but are from other cities have also joined the faction.� This is while a member of the group�s board of directors told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, �There are really 60 lawmakers in this faction. However, when the news [of the formation of the group] was being transmitted to media outlets, one group member put the figure at around 100 and so this number began circulating in the media.�
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