How an Ancient Spring Ritual Survived Empires and Ideologies in Azerbaijan

In mid-May, the first charter flights carrying Azerbaijani pilgrims began departing from Baku airport for Saudi Arabia. As in previous years, the national Hajj quota was fully filled — around 1,500 people travelled to Mecca despite the cost of the pilgrimage reaching $6,100 per person.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, commenced on June 4 with Muslims from across the globe converging on the holy city of Mecca amidst strict health protocols due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The USA put Azerbaijan on a special list of countries that commit severe violations of religious freedom.

The United States recently included Azerbaijan in its annual so-called Special Watch List (SWL), which includes countries with serious violations of religious freedom. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken retained all 12 countries compared to the previous year and added Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, and Vietnam to the list.