Azerbaijan, a country where terrorist presence is unchecked

Azerbaijan drew close to Turkey following the former's independence from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Baku tried to emulate the Turkish national secular model. This is why most of Azerbaijan's institutions draw a line of demarcation between religion and public life, even as the country's population is predominantly Muslim.

The vast majority of Azerbaijan's population was not leaned towards religion. The country's Muslims were not deep into differences between Sunnis and Shiites.

Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union created a vacuum that was filled by terrorist organizations. These organizations were ready to be active in a country that was far from the radar screens of international intelligence agencies.

Azerbaijan's Popular Front Party, which ruled the country after the independence, worked to apply the Turkish secular model. Nevertheless, the radical ideology took root and grew in the country for the following reasons:

1 – The majority of the public was angry at deteriorating economic conditions and economic mismanagement. There was also a wide gap between the ruling elite and the majority of the people. This created appropriate conditions for the growth of radical ideologies.

2 – Rampant poverty gave the chance for Islamist movements to expand their service networks. In 2004, 49.6% of Azerbaijanis were poor, according to the Human Development Report. It said 17% of the people lived in abject poverty.

3 – Police brutality gave radical organizations the chance to win the hearts of the public and spread their ideas.

Azerbaijani police was both brutal and inefficient. This allowed the intelligence units of terrorist groups to operate freely. The 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were ordered from Baku.

4 – Azerbaijan's schools did not introduce moderate education. Islamist groups used the presence of a desire on the part of the general public to delve deep into the Islamic religion in drawing in recruits and adapting them to their ideologies.

Foreign influences

Regional powers that turned religion into a foreign policy tool used the vacuum left behind by the Soviets in influencing the Azerbaijani society. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran were the most active countries in Azerbaijan in the post-Soviet period.

There was also growing anger at the United States. In 1992, the US Congress approved a law that prevented the US administration from offering financial support to Azerbaijan. This had directly affected the lives of ordinary people in the country. Anger at the US increased even more in Azerbaijan after the American occupation of Iraq.

Some Azerbaijanis even believed that the United States was only interested in their country's oil. They accused the US of double standard.

Religious schools founded by other countries in Azerbaijan played a big role in spreading radical thinking in the country. Azerbaijan is also surrounded on all sides by radical thinking hotspots. Iran, for example, is a Shiite bastion. Chechnya, which is located north of Azerbaijan, is major radical Sunni center.

Religious makeup

Azerbaijan contains a large number of religious groups. Here are the most significant groups:

1 – Salafis

Salafism started growing in Azerbaijan at the hands of some Arabs who live in the country. The Salafi thinking is the quite contrast of the Shiite thinking.

2 – Radical Shiites

These groups receive financial and logistical support from Iran. They work to destabilize the secular regime of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was once an Iranian territory, which is why Tehran wants to bring it back to the Iranian mainland. Iran opened Shiite schools with the aim of spreading the Shiite faith in the country. Iran also sent a lot of missionaries, especially in areas with economic hardships and crises.

Azerbaijani authorities view Salafi movements as a serious threat. The same authorities also allowed Shiite missionaries to work freely.

At the end of the 1990s, Azerbaijan started to realize the danger posed to it by the Shiites. This was why the government kicked the Iranian missionaries out.

Although Iran closed down most of its schools in Azerbaijan, some of the Iranian schools continue to operate in the country. These schools function as magnetic points for students who want to study the Shiite faith in Iran. When they return to their country, these students act like Iranian religious ambassadors in Azerbaijan.