CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 146

KRISTINE MARGARYAN
AZERBAIJAN’S INVOLVEMENT
IN INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Abstract
The Islamic revival in Azerbaijan gave a start to the processes of radicaliza-
tion and the society’s involvement in international terrorism. The radicaliza-
tion was the result of both domestic and external factors. Under the domestic
factors, the study examined the policy measures towards the religious belief
and activities, and such external factors as Iranian, North Caucasian and
Middle Eastern infl uences. What analysis has shown is the increased ten-
dency of radicalization. Oppressive policy measures restricted freedoms of
the society making them more radicalized. In addition, in line with having
imposed restrictions people are becoming more vulnerable to external reli-
gious infl uence. A number of Azerbaijanis continue staying in the ranks of
terrorist groups, while others leave the country for reviving the training and
afterwards joining the terrorist groups. All those fi ndings suggest that there
are prospects of further radicalization, which push the society towards the in-
volvement in international terrorism.
Keywords: International terrorism, Azerbaijan, Salafi sm, Radicalization, Is-
lamization.
Introduction
In the 21 st century international terrorism became a buzzword for cit-
izens, policy makers and for any student of international relations. One
of the common conviction among them is that in the extensively inter-
dependent world no country is immune to international terrorism. From
this perspective, Azerbaijan is of particular interest, as it appears to be an
example of a country with growing radical ideology despite the secular
nature of the state. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a turning point
as Azerbaijan started to witness Islamic revival, which was followed by
further radicalization and involvement in international terrorism.
Religious radicalization in Azerbaijan is poised to become a signifi -
cant security challenge not only to the country itself, but also to the whole
region of the South Caucasus. The issue of religious radicalism was ini-
tially perceived by the government as an imported threat, which was in-
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