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Azerbaijan: Next hotspot after Syria
19:18 27/12/2013 » ANALYSIS
On 11th of December 2013 in Azerbaijani town of Sumgait skirmishes
took place between two religious groupings `Khawarij and Salafis'. As
Azerbaijani news agencies report the clashes burst out on the ground
of religious ideology. Another shooting occurred in mid- October of
the same year between the police and an armed group whom media named
as Wahhabis (otherwise called Salafis, branch of Sunni Islam). In
December of 2013 Azerbaijani police stated that it is necessary to
take the mosques of the country under the control as some clashes are
taking place between members of different religious sects in
Azerbaijan.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan considers itself to be one of the most
secular and tolerant Muslim states in the world. Just recently the
Azerbaijani analysts speaking about social tensions in Azerbaijan
excluded the fact that religion can play any prominent role in
Azerbaijani social and political life in the near future. A professor
of Baku State University confirmed that `Azerbaijan is one of the most
secular Muslim states in the world'. However, the Western analysts
don't exclude the fact of Azerbaijan's Islamization and claim that
Azerbaijan has the potential characteristics to become the next
hotspot after Syria.
Like in Syria, the population of Azerbaijan is divided into two
dominating branches of Islam: Shia and Sunni. According to 2013 Pew
Research Report in Azerbaijan the 65 % to 75% are Shias and only 15%
to 35% are Sunnis (Sufis and Wahabbis -branches of Sunni Islam). In
Syria the majority are Sunnis, almost 60% of the population, while the
power is in the hands of Alawites, the branch of Shia Islam. Bashar-Al
Assad, the Alawite president of Syria tried to defend the secular
nature of Syria, trying to eliminate religious divisions that could
have jeopardized his power and stability of the country. However,
social unrest in 2011 in Syria and Assad's harsh approach to it
gradually boosted the tensions between sectarian divisions, drawing
the country into religious war.
Similar to Assad, the Azerbaijani government launched the policy of
secularism in the country: complete separation of religion from
politics and economy. Under the rule of Heydar Aliyev, the third
president of Azerbaijan, Islam in the country was stabilized and
organized, that is the government put all legal and administrative
measures to take Islam under its control. The key tool in that
consolidation is keeping the balance between Sunnis and Shias.
Any interpretation of Islam that would pose a threat to authorities
has been forbidden in Syria as well as in Azerbaijan, but a space was
created for implementation of official Islam, which would provide
legitimacy to the regime. It was claimed that Bashar-Al-Assad found
the formula of how to maintain multilayer Islamic society. He didn't
press the society instead granted some `controlled' freedom. The same
phenomenon is observed in Azerbaijan, there is quite a liberal
Constitution where everyone in the state has the right of freedom of
religion, but in practice they are not allowed to excise that right.
These two countries similarly constructed the `culture of fear' in
their societies and maintained it carefully. However, socioeconomic
processes and social hardships had their direct impact on Syrian
society's upheaval. Widespread corruption and unsound economic
practices increased in 2011 in Syria. There is an opinion that the
crackdowns in Syria were the direct results of these developments. In
Azerbaijan increasing corruption, nepotism and economic hardships are
common phenomena as well. As one of Azerbaijani analysts observed
direct to the point, just few steps away from Baku's center one would
encounter `poverty, ruins and disappointment.'
Recent events showed that Asad's harsh approach to the protests and an
escalated violence against the protestors contributed to the uprising,
while in Azerbaijan the society still endures economic hardships and
violent repressions, where `still' is a key word.
Nevertheless, according to different articles published in Carnegie
think tank and Foreign Policy journal the breakthrough of Syrian civil
war into sectarian one creates different concerns in Azerbaijan, which
as observed above has high potential of becoming the next melting pot.
As reported by Bayram Balci, a scholar specialized in Middle East, the
dominant position occupied by Sunnis during Syrian sectarian war
created some concerns in Shia community of Azerbaijan. The Sunnis of
Azerbaijan were so much radicalized that went to take part in the
Syrian war. It is reported that as many as 200 jihadists of Azerbaijan
still fight in Syria. There have also been cases when Shia
Azerbaijanis through Iran went to Syria and joined Syrian army and
Shia Hezbollah. The return of sectarian fighters with escalated
tensions and ambitious could be potential creator of a similar
situation in Azerbaijan like it is witnessed in Syria.
As Balci claims `Azerbaijan policy of maintaining secular peace is the
only alternative to sectarian chaos.' The comparison of CRRC yearly
data supports the arguments posed above. The data revealed that people
in Azerbaijan have become more religious and that religion plays
prominent role in their lives. In 2010 only 71% of Azerbaijani
respondents considered religion to be an important factor of their
everyday life, while in 2012 the number of those who think of religion
as important aspect of everyday life reached to 81%. Similarly in 2010
only 25% thought of themselves as people devoted to religion while in
2012 the number grew to 32 %. Finally, the data illustrates that more
than half of Shia as well as Sunni agreed with the statement that
people should participate to the protests to change something in the
country. Implications are the following; though religion still is
separated from politics in Azerbaijan there is an increase in
religiosity of Azerbaijani society. Who knows, maybe the Western
Analysts have a point and Azerbaijan can be the next hub of religious
war...
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/12/27/azerbaijan-syria/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
19:18 27/12/2013 » ANALYSIS
On 11th of December 2013 in Azerbaijani town of Sumgait skirmishes
took place between two religious groupings `Khawarij and Salafis'. As
Azerbaijani news agencies report the clashes burst out on the ground
of religious ideology. Another shooting occurred in mid- October of
the same year between the police and an armed group whom media named
as Wahhabis (otherwise called Salafis, branch of Sunni Islam). In
December of 2013 Azerbaijani police stated that it is necessary to
take the mosques of the country under the control as some clashes are
taking place between members of different religious sects in
Azerbaijan.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan considers itself to be one of the most
secular and tolerant Muslim states in the world. Just recently the
Azerbaijani analysts speaking about social tensions in Azerbaijan
excluded the fact that religion can play any prominent role in
Azerbaijani social and political life in the near future. A professor
of Baku State University confirmed that `Azerbaijan is one of the most
secular Muslim states in the world'. However, the Western analysts
don't exclude the fact of Azerbaijan's Islamization and claim that
Azerbaijan has the potential characteristics to become the next
hotspot after Syria.
Like in Syria, the population of Azerbaijan is divided into two
dominating branches of Islam: Shia and Sunni. According to 2013 Pew
Research Report in Azerbaijan the 65 % to 75% are Shias and only 15%
to 35% are Sunnis (Sufis and Wahabbis -branches of Sunni Islam). In
Syria the majority are Sunnis, almost 60% of the population, while the
power is in the hands of Alawites, the branch of Shia Islam. Bashar-Al
Assad, the Alawite president of Syria tried to defend the secular
nature of Syria, trying to eliminate religious divisions that could
have jeopardized his power and stability of the country. However,
social unrest in 2011 in Syria and Assad's harsh approach to it
gradually boosted the tensions between sectarian divisions, drawing
the country into religious war.
Similar to Assad, the Azerbaijani government launched the policy of
secularism in the country: complete separation of religion from
politics and economy. Under the rule of Heydar Aliyev, the third
president of Azerbaijan, Islam in the country was stabilized and
organized, that is the government put all legal and administrative
measures to take Islam under its control. The key tool in that
consolidation is keeping the balance between Sunnis and Shias.
Any interpretation of Islam that would pose a threat to authorities
has been forbidden in Syria as well as in Azerbaijan, but a space was
created for implementation of official Islam, which would provide
legitimacy to the regime. It was claimed that Bashar-Al-Assad found
the formula of how to maintain multilayer Islamic society. He didn't
press the society instead granted some `controlled' freedom. The same
phenomenon is observed in Azerbaijan, there is quite a liberal
Constitution where everyone in the state has the right of freedom of
religion, but in practice they are not allowed to excise that right.
These two countries similarly constructed the `culture of fear' in
their societies and maintained it carefully. However, socioeconomic
processes and social hardships had their direct impact on Syrian
society's upheaval. Widespread corruption and unsound economic
practices increased in 2011 in Syria. There is an opinion that the
crackdowns in Syria were the direct results of these developments. In
Azerbaijan increasing corruption, nepotism and economic hardships are
common phenomena as well. As one of Azerbaijani analysts observed
direct to the point, just few steps away from Baku's center one would
encounter `poverty, ruins and disappointment.'
Recent events showed that Asad's harsh approach to the protests and an
escalated violence against the protestors contributed to the uprising,
while in Azerbaijan the society still endures economic hardships and
violent repressions, where `still' is a key word.
Nevertheless, according to different articles published in Carnegie
think tank and Foreign Policy journal the breakthrough of Syrian civil
war into sectarian one creates different concerns in Azerbaijan, which
as observed above has high potential of becoming the next melting pot.
As reported by Bayram Balci, a scholar specialized in Middle East, the
dominant position occupied by Sunnis during Syrian sectarian war
created some concerns in Shia community of Azerbaijan. The Sunnis of
Azerbaijan were so much radicalized that went to take part in the
Syrian war. It is reported that as many as 200 jihadists of Azerbaijan
still fight in Syria. There have also been cases when Shia
Azerbaijanis through Iran went to Syria and joined Syrian army and
Shia Hezbollah. The return of sectarian fighters with escalated
tensions and ambitious could be potential creator of a similar
situation in Azerbaijan like it is witnessed in Syria.
As Balci claims `Azerbaijan policy of maintaining secular peace is the
only alternative to sectarian chaos.' The comparison of CRRC yearly
data supports the arguments posed above. The data revealed that people
in Azerbaijan have become more religious and that religion plays
prominent role in their lives. In 2010 only 71% of Azerbaijani
respondents considered religion to be an important factor of their
everyday life, while in 2012 the number of those who think of religion
as important aspect of everyday life reached to 81%. Similarly in 2010
only 25% thought of themselves as people devoted to religion while in
2012 the number grew to 32 %. Finally, the data illustrates that more
than half of Shia as well as Sunni agreed with the statement that
people should participate to the protests to change something in the
country. Implications are the following; though religion still is
separated from politics in Azerbaijan there is an increase in
religiosity of Azerbaijani society. Who knows, maybe the Western
Analysts have a point and Azerbaijan can be the next hub of religious
war...
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/12/27/azerbaijan-syria/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress