CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 163

KRISTINE MARGARYAN
new armed group. 84 After getting trained, they joined the battlefi eld, fi ght-
ing in the ranks of terrorist groups. In June 2014, APA reported about Is-
lamic passports that ISIS had started to distribute to its militant members.
According to the report, there are also Azerbaijanis, who had already ob-
tained Islamic passports. 85 It became clear when the photos of those pass-
ports started to appear on social networks. Moreover, in line with new Is-
lamic passports, the ISIS members shared photos tearing their previous
Azerbaijani passports, illustrating that they were not inclined to return to
Azerbaijan.
Such cases when Azerbaijanis were noticed fi ghting or having links to
terrorist groups are immense. Repeatedly the media in Azerbaijan reports
and makes publications where Azerbaijani fi ghters, even being killed, had
been identifi ed. What above presented cases illustrate, is that no Azerbai-
jani citizen fought for the government, despite Shi’a being the majority in
Azerbaijan. Rather, based on media reports, all Azerbaijanis fought in the
ranks of rebel groups, particularly within ISIS.
Some Azerbaijani fi ghters appeared to fi nd themselves in dire eco-
nomic conditions before they joined terrorist groups. Not being able to
provide a well-being to his/her family, people joined the ranks of terrorist
groups. However, another phenomenon has also appeared in case of Azer-
baijani fi ghters. It illustrates that some fi ghters had better economic con-
ditions and good educational backgrounds, when left the country. In this
case, the motivation diff ers from the previous case.
Azerbaijani citizens continue staying in the ranks of terrorist organi-
zations. Those remaining constitute a danger in case they return to Azer-
baijan. First, when combating military operations, Azerbaijanis, fi ghting
in the ranks of terrorist organizations, have become indoctrinated about
the ISIS ideology, established the networks with jihadists whom they met
during military activities, know about training methods- all these may
trigger further radicalization and the spread of jihadist ideology. Second,
those, who may return to their homeland, would return with knowledge
of use of military weapons and military expertise. This may become an
open window for creating new terrorist cells. What is clear, is that while
the impact of the rise of terrorist groups, such as ISIS, is evident, the mo-
tivating factors of joining the ranks of military groups stay not well-un-
derstood.
84
85
Turkish, Azerbaijani Women Sentenced to Life in Prison for Collaborating with ISIL.
“ISIS Issues Passports to Azerbaijani Fighters in Syria,” APA, 2014, http://en.apa.az/azerbai-
jani-news/developments/isis-issues-passports-to-azerbaijani-fi ghters-in-syria-photo.html (ac-
cessed May 2, 2018).
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