Varlyq was established by
Javad Heyat with
Hamid Notghi and
Gholamhossein Bigdeli and other Iranian Azerbaijani poets and writers in 1979. Its main focus is on Turkic languages spoken in Iran, such as
Azerbaijani,
Turkmen,
Qashqai,
Khorasani,
Sonqori dialects. The magazine, in addition to research areas in
Turkology, focuses on written
Turkish literature and
Azerbaijani literature in Iran and its alphabet, strengthening cultural links between Persians and Azerbaijanis. It also promotes
Iranian Turks' issues in academic circles such as conferences and seminars. Several contributors of the magazine were arrested by the Iranian authorities and put in
Evin prison in September 2008. ==References==