By Muhammet Kursun and Reza Abdi Behrouz </p> <p>TEHRAN (AA) – The Iranian authorities have authorized the launch of a Turkish-language newspaper, an Iranian lawmaker of Turkic descent said Friday.</p> <p>MP Nader Ghazipur was quoted by Iranian state media as saying that Abbas Salehi, minister of culture and Islamic guidance, had approved a request by the country’s Turkic minority for the launch of a Turkish-language newspaper. </p> <p>Even though a large portion of its population speaks a Turkic language (such as Azeri), Iran currently lacks any Turkic-language newspapers or television channels, Ghazipur said.</p> <p>Persian is the official language of Iran, which recognizes seven other “regional languages”, including Azeri, Kurdish, Balochi and Arabic.
