Religion as a ‘threat’ and ‘instrument’ in authoritarian regimes: state-religion relations in post-Soviet Azerbaijan

ABSTRACT

This article explores contentious state-religion relations in Azerbaijan. In recent years, the Azerbaijani government has adopted new regulations in religious affairs aiming at two goals: on the one hand, the government tries to keep religious groups/individuals under control, prevent the politicisation of the religious environment, and prevent foreign countries from expanding their influence in the country. On the other hand, the government aims to promote a positive image of the state in the international community through hosting and funding interreligious dialogue platforms and highlighting the multicultural environment in Azerbaijan. The study examines the evolution of state-religion relations in the country and highlights that in recent years its political regime has applied more restrictive policies towards independent religious communities in legal and extra-legal forms and simultaneously established institutions and co-opted regime-friendly groups through instrumentalising religion to keep the religious environment under control.

KEYWORDS:

• Azerbaijan
• religion
• Islam
• state-religion relations

Acknowledgements

The first draft of this article was presented at the 26th Annual Association of Central Eurasian Students Conference on 29 February 2020 at Indiana University. I am very grateful for the helpful comments from panel participants and discussants. I express my gratitude to the editorial team of Religion, State & Society, the two anonymous reviewers, and Molly Merryman and Elisabeth Salberg whose comments have been very helpful in improving this contribution. The faults, of course, remain my own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The author has obtained ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board of his host university to carry out and publish the study reported in this article.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Javadbay Khalilzada

Javadbay Khalilzada is a Ph.D. Candidate and Instructor at the Department of Political Science at Kent State University, Ohio, USA. He was a visiting scholar in 2022 at Columbia University and his recent publications include a book chapter ‘Causes and Prospects of the Georgia-South Ossetia Conflict’ and an article ‘Modernization and Social Change in Azerbaijan: Assessing the Transformation of Azerbaijan through Theories of Modernity in New Middle Eastern Studies’. Khalilzada’s main research areas are authoritarian politics, state violence, interstate conflict analysis, and the politics of Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, and the post-Soviet Caucasus.