• Merci @gonzo, j’archive ! C’est assez marrant de voir cette guerre des noms se poursuivre, comme d’ailleurs entre la Corée et le Japon.

      Il y a eu une époque où les journalistes des médias qui écrivaient « Golfe » tout court ou « Golfe arabique » se voyaient notifié d’un refus d’entrer sur le territoire iranien quand ils se présentaient à la douane de l’aéroport (et faisaient donc un aller retour Téhéran par le même avion).

      Je savais les Iraniens ultra-sensibles sur cette question (j’ai reçu au cours de ma carrière des tonnes de documents et de lettres m’enjoignant d’abandonner l’expression « Golfe » pour « Golfe persique », seule dénomination « légale »... Mais jusqu’ici, c’était un peu plus discret du côté des États du Golfe qui avaient l’air d’avoir d’autres chats à fouetter plutôt que de s’occuper de toponymie.

      Je vais rechercher quelques exemples de cette propagande et les partager avec vous.

      #cartographie #propagande #manipulation #toponymie #golfe #golfe_persique #golfe_arabique

    • Je profite de ce post pour regrouper un certain nombre de liens et de docs :

      Congratulations ! Google Maps has recently added the term « Persian Gulf » on it’s maps !
      http://www.persianorarabiangulf.com

      Polémique sur le Net : Golfe persique ou Golfe arabique ? Juin 2010 (c’est pas récent mais ça reste d’actualité)
      http://observers.france24.com/fr/20100611-polemique-net-golfe-persique-golfe-arabique

      Persian Gulf ? Arabian Gulf ? One big gulf in understanding by Brian Whitaker
      https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/27/gulf-of-understanding

      Persian (or Arabian) Gulf Is Caught in the Middle of Regional Rivalries
      http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/world/middleeast/persian-gulf-arabian-gulf-iran-saudi-arabia.html?_r=0

      How Google is showing Arabian Gulf on Maps
      http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/society/how-google-is-showing-arabian-gulf-on-maps-1.1560237

    • Reçu ce mail en copie en 2011. C’est un ancien prisonier politique iranien qui s’adresse à un journaliste d’un mensuel français :

      Cher Monsieur,

      Comme vous le savez, nous, des gens d’origine iranienne, avons un très grand respect pour vous et vos écrits, que nous traduisons d’ailleurs immédiatement et diffusons à travers le monde entier.

      Dans une de vos dernières livraisons, vous aviez utilisé le vocable « Le Golfe » au lieu du « Golfe persique ». Vous qui êtes un journaliste du haut rang et qu’avec vos prises de position courageuses vous forcez l’admiration de tout un chacun, pourquoi alors s’incliner devant un « nationalisme » à la c... de certains Arabes et écrire ce qui est faux, historiquement et géographiquement ?

      Avez-vous peur d’eux ? Ou vous ne voulez pas les vexer ? Dans ce dernier cas alors, vous devriez prendre des positions anti-palestiniennes, de peur de vexer les Israëliens ??!

      Je ne veux pas critiquer davantage un Maître alors que je ne suis qu’un tout petit disciple. Mais je continue à penser que détourner la vérité historique pour plaire à l’un ou à l’autre, ne devrait pas faire partie de la personnalité d’un très grand journaliste que vous êtes...

      Avec mes salutations resprectueuses.

      XX, ancien prisonnier politique iranien

    • Et cette dépêche publiée par la BBC en 2010

      Iran protests to China on distortion of Persian Gulf name
      Text of report in English by Iranian official government news agency IRNA website

      Beijing, 13 November: Iran protested to China on Saturday [13 November] for distorting the name of the Persian Gulf during the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games.

      Iran’s Ambassador to China Mehdi Safari told IRNA that separate notes of protest were sent to the Foreign Ministry of China and organizers of the Guangzhou 2010 on the issue.

      While showing maps of countries on the big screens of the opening ceremony at the Asian Games, a map of Iran appeared for a few seconds with the fake name of ’Arabian’ instead of ’Persian Gulf’ on it, said the Iranian ambassador. He stressed that the term ’Persian Gulf’ was written in all international maps of Iran.

      Safari added that officials of China’s Foreign Ministry as well as organizers of the Asian Games have apologized for the incident admitting that the protest was completely relevant.

      Immediately after Iran’s protest, the Foreign Ministry of China issued an instruction which required all its affiliated bodies to pay due attention to the use of the correct name of the ’Persian Gulf’ in the future.

      Safari stressed that the distortion of the name of the Persian Gulf had nothing to do with Beijing’s foreign policy and its attitude towards Iran but was instead a mistake made by the organizers of the Asian games. The Iranian ambassador reassured the friendly ties between Iran and China.

      Source: Islamic Republic News Agency website, Tehran, in English 0755 gmt 13 Nov 10

    • Voilà une des lettres type que j’ai reçu pendant une bonne trentaine d’années. Et à les relire, et a considérer les arguments les uns derrière les autres, on finit presque par comprendre pourquoi la guerre.

      Dear Friends,

      I am writing to express my concern regarding your articleq and maps. I am very disappointed to see that the Persian Gulf is erroneously referred to as The Gulf. I do not know where to begin to express my sheer outrage and disappointment in this.

      As a respected organization, how is this mistake allowed to take place” I sincerely hope it is not an intentional doing. If so,
      let me explain why this should not be allowed to take place.

      The Persian Gulf has always been known as just that, the Persian Gulf. The country with the largest single maritime boarder along it is Iran, and in Iran the majority (51% according to The World Factbook 2003) are ethnic Persians. This puts the numbers at roughly 34 million Persians out of 67 million
      Iranians. The official language is also Persian. Many people are under the false assumption that Persia changed its name to Iran, when in fact this is not the case.

      Persia still exists today, as a large southwestern province in Iran. Persia was always but one piece of the Iranian Empire. Its central piece, and all the emperors, even up until modern times, were Persian. Iran is just the name of the Empire, because it encompasses more than just Persia (such as
      Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Baluchistan, etc.). In 1935 the Emperor, or Shah, of Iran officially asked all world leaders to refer to the nation as Iran, not Persia, which is but one part of Iran. It is similar to England versus United Kingdom or Holland versus The Netherlands. Officially calling England the United Kingdom does not mean that the English do not exist anymore.

      So why has this most unfortunate fate been assigned to the Persians. In Persian, the word Persia is pronounced Pars hence the native way of saying the language, Parsi, Perisan Gulf, or Khalije Pars has been the accepted name of that body of water since ancient times, not just by Persians, but by all Iranians, and indeed, all neighboring Asians, such as Arabs, Indians, and Turks. It is also officially used by all European nations.

      There are many corrupt Arab leaders who insist on calling the Persian Gulf, The Gulf or worse yet, the Arabian Gulf. This is not for cultural or historic reasons, but rather for their own selfish purposes to express their power to foreign investors, and to try to take advantage of Iran‚s current unfortunate political situation.

      If respected organizations, and Newspaper allow these corrupt Arab leaders to systematically attack the respect and cultural integrity of the Persians, it will destroy a piece of history
      forever. Persians do not deserve this unjust treatment. Arabs have the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Oman. Calling it The Gulf is not only unwarranted, but also violates an entire people‚s cultural heritage.

      Besides, there are literally hundreds of gulfs in the world ! Both the United States and Mexico touch the Gulf of Mexico, but it is still called the Gulf of Mexico; the same holds true for the English Channel, which is half French.

      I urge you to take back this damage and refer to this body of water as the Persian Gulf in your future articles and on your website. It is not too late to reverse this terrible damage.

      Sincerely,

      XX
      Teaching Assistant & Fellow Department of Anthropology
      University of XX in United States

    • En 2004, alors que je participais à la rédaction d’un rapport environnemental dans la région du Golfe [persique, donc], j’avais reçu à deux jours d’intervalle, un plainte violente de l’ambassadeur d’Iran à Genève et un avertissement de mon patron, en l’occurrence le PNUE à l’époque, qui me demandait de « mettre à jour les documents » non pas avec l’expression « Golfe persique » comme le demandait les iraniens mais avec une expression complètement incertaine qui encore aujourd’hui me laisse perplexe :

      ERRATUM

      The name “Golfe” on the map ’Water Management and Water Conflicts in the Middle East’ should be changed to the name “ROPME SEA Area” in accordance with the agreed upon terminology under the:

      Regional Convention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Emnvironment from Pollution (ROMPE) or the Kuwait Convention of 1978.

      Thank you,

      XX, UNEP, Nairobi.

    • Et quand l’ONU s’en mêle et sort un Working paper de 8 pages reprenant des arguments historiques, c’est tr§-ès très intéressant :

      Fichier pdf téléchargeable
      https://www.dropbox.com/s/2y0poljlig4n1se/carto%20golfe%20justif%20historique%20un.pdf?dl=0

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/1z6id6pm0j9i0lu/persian%20gulf%20brochure.pdf?dl=0

      In the end, it is worth mentioning that the name of Persian Gulf has been admitted in all the live languages of the world so far and all the countries throughout the world, name this
      Iranian Sea, just in the language of the people: PERSIAN GULF. Even our Arab brothers do not need to alter a historical name to have a gulf of their own, because there had been a gulf in
      their own name previously mentioned in the historical and geographical works and drawings, which is called at present the Red Sea (Bahr Ahmar).