CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 152

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA
External Infl uences
Iranian Infl uence
Iranian infl uence posits a Shia “threat”. Many scholars consider Ira-
nian factor as a reason for radicalization of Azerbaijanis society. Shia
Muslims comprise the majority of Azerbaijani society, living mostly in
the south, Absheron peninsula with Nardaran village as its stronghold and
the regions around Baku. Some slogans from Quran are even noticeable
in Nardaran with content of “Muslims must become the soldiers of Islam
and they should defend Islam”. 32 In addition, Lenkaran district, just on the
Iranian border, get broadcasts of religious programs from Iran. 33
One way Iran exerted radical patterns of Islam was by cultural rep-
resentation, such as Organization of Islamic Propaganda, Ministry of
Culture, embassies, the Khomeini Relief Committee, etc. Following the
collapse of the Soviet Union, in the 1990s many religious schools were
opened, where mostly the literature about glorifi cation of Islam and Iran
was promoted. 34 Since the Southern part of the region is considered as the
most religious one, one can fi nd even Iranian books in the local markets.
The increasing number of foreign, Iranian-trained missionaries were no-
ticeable, who undertook their activities to propagate the Iranian model.
Azerbaijanis were receiving scholarships, which let them attend seminar-
ies and universities in Iran.
Indoctrination of imams and humanitarian assistance were other ways
of rooting radicalism in Azerbaijan’s society from Iran. One aspect of
Iran’s strategy towards Azerbaijan was to place Iranian trained mullahs
as heads of mosques in Azerbaijan, which would help to strengthen Ira-
nian infl uence. 35 One example was Juma Mosque, which was considered
as a center of Shia activism with Imam Ilgar Ibrahimoglu as a head of
mosque. It should be mentioned that he, being an Iranian-educated cler-
ic himself, was promoting Iran’s position and Islamic principles with the
aim to imbed Iranian theocracy in Azerbaijan (European Foundation for
Democracy, 2015). Many young people followed Ibrahimoglu due to his
ability to connect Islamic roots and principles with modern democratic
values and norms (Geybullayeva, 2018).
The Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA) created in 1991, was also the re-
sult of Iranian infl uence and was seen as the main source of radical Shia
32
33
34
35
Geybullayeva, Is Azerbaijan Becoming a Hub of Radical Islam?.
Kotecha, Islamic and Ethnic Identities in Azerbaijan.
Anar Valiyev, “Azerbaijan: Islam in a Post-Soviet Republic,” Middle East Review of Interna-
tional Aff airs, 9:4, (2005): 1-13.
European Foundation for Democracy. “Secularism in Azerbaijan and the Threat of Radical-
ization in the region,” (2015), https://www.counterextremism.com/sites/default/fi les/Secular-
ism_in_Azerbaijan_June%202015.pdf (accessed December 7, 2018); Souleimanov and Ehr-
mann, The Rise of Militant Salafi sm in Azerbaijan and its Regional Implications.
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