Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has nothing to do with religion
On September 27, 2020 Armenia started a new war against Azerbaijan.
Since the very first day of this new war of aggression and occupation, we have been observing some very worrisome propaganda by Armenia and their allies trying to portray the Armenia-Azerbajan conflict as an interreligious war between Christians and Muslims. This is a familiar tactic Armenia used in the early 1990s in the West, in their attempt to garner sympathy, when they invaded, occupied and ethnically cleansed 20 percent of Azerbaijan. Back then, 30 years ago, the world knew almost nothing about Azerbaijan, and many in the West easily were misled by the Armenian propaganda.
Last week, the official Twitter page of Armenia managed by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs even posted a photo of an Armenian priest holding a rifle in one hand, naming it “faith and power”.
As soon as the new war started, many famous Islamophobes and white supremacists in Europe, U.S. and other Western countries expressed their solidarity with Armenia.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan also joined the chorus presenting the conflict as “a clash of civilizations”. The main lobbyists of Armenia in the U.S. further these racist prejudices.
This conflict has never been an interreligious one. In fact, in 1918 Azerbaijan became the very first majority-Muslim nation in the world to establish a staunchly secular republic. Also in 1919 Azerbaijan gave the right to vote and run for election to all women above the age of 20, and became the first majority-Muslim nation to do so. It happened 101 years ago, when advanced Western democracies such France or Switzerland were still debating if women deserved the same political rights as men. For instance, France enfranchised women only in 1944, 25 years after Azerbaijan!
Azerbaijan was secular then and is secular now. The state and religion are completely separated. All religious communities enjoy the same rights and privileges. It is not a coincidence that Azerbaijan is recognized by global faith leaders as an Oasis of Tolerance.
500,000 Christians of all denominations as well as 30,000 Jews live peacefully in Azerbaijan together with their Muslim brothers and sisters.
The Government of Azerbaijan has built and rebuilt many churches and synagogues, and helps all religious communities financially to maintain their houses of worship and serve their members. Freedom of religion is an absolute priority for Azerbaijan, and we pride ourselves with our diversity, multiculturalism and respect for all religious and ethnic minorities.
During his 2016 visit, Pope Francis called Azerbaijan an exemplary model of religious tolerance and interfaith harmony.
Even despite the 30-year-long conflict, the Armenian Church in downtown Baku, our capital city, stands tall and has been renovated by the Government of Azerbaijan. The Church has an amazing collection of 5000 old Armenian books, which are meticulously preserved as cultural heritage by the Azerbaijani people.
30,000 Armenians continue to live peacefully in Baku and other major cities of Azerbaijan, enjoying the same rights as other citizens of the country.
The same, however, cannot be said about Armenia, from where all 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled, turning Armenia into a monoethnic and monoreligious state. Most of the Azerbaijani cultural and religious sites, both in Armenia and the occupied territories, including many famous mosques have been completely destroyed or desecrated.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has nothing to do with religion. The conflict is all about Armenia’s U.N. and U.S.-condemned invasion, occupation and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory, which has displaced over 800,000 Azerbaijanis.
The racist propaganda promoted by Armenia, its U.S. lobby and their allies, with which they intend to cash in on the already divisive environment and islamophobic prejudices, must be condemned by everyone who believe that such dangerous bigotry and intolerance have no place in the U.S. or anywhere else. Armenians themselves, both in Armenia and the diaspora, should vehemently reject and condemn all attempts to label this conflict as an interreligious conflict. Such a false characterization stands in direct opposition to the values and standards of all those working toward peace and progress.
