Islamic Azerbaijan

Ilham Aliyev concerned over islamophobia spread

Better late, than never, as Russians say, but that's not the main point. Recently Aliyev made a few statements not only on Islam, but on the growth of islamophobia in the world. Speaking on October 16 at the meeting of the ECO in Baku (more here in one of my previous posts in Russian) Aliyev voiced concerns over spread of Islamophobia in the world and said "we have to propagandize Islam as a religion of peace".

Not later than a month after that - on November 16, at the meeting of the New Azerbaijan Party - Aliyev released another tremendous speech (more on it in my previous post in Russian) part of which was again on islamophobia. Suddenly, according to him, Azerbaijan - a young, independent, rapidly developing country - became a problem for "them" as it doesn't fit into a stereotype that Muslims are backward.

Azeri police hit Muslim protestor in Baku October 5

The speech raised a lot of eye brows, but apparently it wasn't the end. Elnur Aslanov, an official at the presidential administration, released on three pro-government websites an op-ed, discussing the president's statements. Here is a link to it in Russian. In the article Aslanov went ahead confirming what Aliyev said a few days earlier: islamophobia is number two enemy of Azerbaijan (Armenians are number one, as you have probably guessed already). His long analysis goes on and on explaining the roots of islamophobia and why it is important to fight it.

Why talk on islamophobia now and why stating it the country's number two problem? I read somebody say today, that maybe pot was legalized in Colorado and Washington just recently, but seems like it was around in the Azeri government for a while. That could be one explanation. Another one maybe trying to get devoted Muslims to vote for Aliyev in 2013? Well, according to the recent study by Strategic Research Center near president Aliyev's administration, although 96,8% of Azeris identify themselves as Muslims, only 10,9% regularly perform namaz prayers and only 17% fast during the holy month of Ramadan. So, maybe it's just another old Soviet attempt to find an enemy outside the country so everyone forgets who the really bad guy is?

Azeri Muslims complaining they are being prosecuted because of their beards

But back to islamophobia. Our big friend of Islam Aliyev regularly sends his brave policemen to beat protesting Muslims during rallies in Baku (the most recent one on October 5), prohibits wearing hijabs at educational institutions and foils "terror plots" planned by Muslims.  All of these sounds exactly like islamophobia to me. In fact, it seems like we are soon to join the league of other "true friends of Islam" - glorious Central Asian leaders like Nursultan Nazarbayev, Islam Karimov, Emomali Rakhmon and others. These wonderful "fathers of their nations" kill "terrorists" without a single attempt to negotiate (when recently asked in the Kazakh parliament the head of the intelligence office explained that terrorists simply don't want to negotiate), send them to some of world's probably worst prisons (like Uzbekistan's Zhaslyk, where boiling people alive is still one of the methods to deal with prisoners. Stuff like sticking needles under nails and beating one's liver so hard it turns into a bloody pancake, sounds pretty peaceful in comparison to it) and prohibit studying in foreign religious schools (two years ago Rakhmon forced all students back to the country, most ended up in Russia as labor migrants later, not being able to get a life in Tajikistan).

Another pic from October 5 Muslim rally

Aliyevs, Karimovs, Rakhmons and others have long used islamophobia to seem like the only alternative to it in their countries in the eyes of Western countries. Don't fight with me, or Azerbaijan will be just as much a mess as Northern Caucasus or Iran. Don't fight with me, or Islamic movement of Uzbekistan and Hizb-ut-Tahrir will turn Uzbekistan into another Peshawar. Don't fight with me or Tajikistan will be another Waziristan. So why fight islamophobia then, Mr. Aliyev?