Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict – A Multidimensional Analysis
In this collection of articles, the IFLRY Caucasus Program research team offers a multidimensional analysis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The perspectives proposed in our inquiry explore and comprehend the topic from different perspectives, therefore providing clarity of diverse events and categories that have influenced the dispute at early stages and continue to shape it to this day. We hope that our work, even in the slightest bit, will contribute to finding a peaceful and just resolution to this conflict.
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The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, which emerged with the inception of the “Karabakh Movement” in 1988, has often been presented as an ethnic rivalry between ‘Christian Armenians’ and ‘Muslim Azerbaijanis.’ However, both sides have consistently refuted such categorizations, emphasizing that the conflict is not a “religious war.” Despite these official declarations, it becomes evident that religious symbolism and sentiment play a significant role in shaping the conflict. While the Azerbaijanis have not labelled the war in Karabakh as a jihad, their nationalism exhibits a predominantly anti-Armenian character with an Islamic backdrop (Tchilingirian, 1998).
This article explores how religion, in particular Islam, played an important role in the ongoing conflict about the Nagorno-Karabakh region, despite its categorization as an ethno-nationalist dispute between two nations. Hence, the presence of Islamic elements in spite of the alleged official disavowal of religious motivations will be highlighted.
In the beginning, it is essential to note that the region of Nagorno-Karabakh has always been a place where Christian Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis lived side by side in relative peace throughout history (BBC, 2023). However, since having control over the region is vital for both nations as it defines their identity, a noble relationship between these two people became hostile. And currently, it is fed by ethno-nationalist and religious enmity.
After the dramatic dissolution of the Soviet Union, which was a famous flatterer of atheism and godless communist society, the Islamic Renaissance began in Azerbaijan in 1991. Therefore, from time to time, Islamic discourses and narratives appeared in the political climate of Azerbaijan. Meaning that all three previous presidents (Ayaz Mutallibov (1991–1992), Abulfaz Elchibey (1992–1993), and Heydar Aliyev (1993–2003)) used the country’s religion in different ways regarding conflict. But the revival of Islam was mostly the project of the Aliyev family, which made significant efforts in order to combine Azerbaijan with the worldwide ummah (Islamic community). For example, President Heydar Aliyev was the first head of state in seven decades to perform hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He was also the president who shifted the ideological focus from secular nationalism to the country’s Islamic heritage. Hence, it is logical that during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he frequently tried to attract attention to the endangered Islamic culture through Armenian strikes. Thus, it is safe to say that Islam played an essential role in the Post-Soviet Azerbaijan nation-building process (Hovsepyan, 2022).
Given the fact that Islam was an important identity element of Shi’a Azerbaijan after the dismantling of the Soviet Union, it was not unexpected that an ethno-nationalist dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region was equalised with a clash of two major religions.
Furthermore, Heydar Aliyev’s presidency and the times of the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in terms of religion were marked as an attempt to show how Muslim Azerbaijanis were victims of Armenia and the Christian world, and logically, it was sort of howling for help from the Islamic World, including Islamic countries like Turkey and Islamic organisations like the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is noteworthy that the latter brought forward the issue of Islamic heritage in the region and condemned the Armenian aggression, referring to it as an occupation of the territory. Hence, it was fair that Pashayan, one of the best-known experts on the topic in Armenian academia, called Islamic discourse a ‘national project’ during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (Hovsepyan, 2022).
As for the second Nagorno-Karabakh war and current president Ilham Aliyev’s policy towards the conflict, it was significantly successful in terms of interweaving the dispute with Islam. Consequently, an ethno-cultural conflict reached its peak in Islamic discourse in 2020 as the head of state, Mr. Aliyev, tried the instrumentalization of religion for political and diplomatic gains. As the conflict escalated, the dispute became more and more popular worldwide, and people started to characterise it as a ‘clash of civilizations’. However, islamophobics also suggested that it was a clash between civilised (Christian Armenia) and uncivilised (Muslim Azerbaijan). The latter categorization was partly caused by the existence of jihadi mercenaries side by side with Azerbaijani soldiers, since it was seen as a grave danger for the west and was compared to Ottoman expansions. Even though Islamic mercenaries did not play a very important role in war, they truly did play an essential role in creating an intensified Islamic discourse in rivalry with Azerbaijan. However, it must be said that President Ilham Aliyev used the rhetoric of the ‘clash of civilizations’ for his own good. In particular, he condemned every Islamic country for still having good bilateral relations with “occupant” Armenia. At the same time, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan encouraged ghazwa (an Arabic term that refers to the Prophet Muhammad’s expeditions against non-Islamic people), and in the world’s eyes, it was seen as an Islamic cooperation against Christianity (Hovsepyan, 2022).
It is equally important to say that constitutionally, Azerbaijan is a secular country where religion is separated from the State, all religions are equal before the law, and propaganda of religion that could humiliate human dignity is banned (Project, 2022).
However, on the other hand, Presidents of Azerbaijan, particularly Ilham Aliyev, emphasized the necessity of unifying the Islamic world and their actions for Islamic solidarity for the pro-Azerbaijan resolution of the conflict. Therefore, utilizing religious language, Islamic discourses, and calling for help from the Muslim population was definitely an important political step. And hence, Islam did play an essential role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as it helped Azerbaijan to reintegrate in the ummah, to obtain verbal and physical aid from Muslim states, individuals, or organizations, and to take over the religious narrative that worked in favour of ‘uncivilized’ Azerbaijan. (Hovsepyan, 2022)
On account of the information mentioned above, Islam did play an enormous role in shaping conflict discourses, and it was truly instrumentalized at various points during and around the War, especially the second Nagorno-Karabakh war. It could be concluded that post-soviet ethno-territorial conflicts, such as those between Armenia and Azerbaijan, showed religious sentiments, including Islam narratives from the Azerbaijani side. But as long as religion is an important part of a state’s identity, using Islamic rhetoric for territorial and diplomatic gains is expected and ordinary in terms of politics. However, seeing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a clash of two big religions is a practical mistake, as Islam, like Christianity, plays only an additional role in conflict resolution, and blaming any religion for any kind of dispute over this region could be humiliating for religious people included in this conflict.
References
Tchilingirian, H. (1998). Religious Discourse on the Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. Retrieved from digitalcommons.georgefox.edu: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1721&context=ree
BBC. (2023, April 10). Nagorno-Karabakh profile Published . Retrieved from bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18270325
Hovsepyan, N. (2022, November 14). The Instrumentalization of Islam in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh: Through the Beginnings of the Dispute in the 1980s to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020. Retrieved from studenttheses.uu.nl: https://studenttheses.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12932/43413/RMA%20Thesis.%20Nerses%20Hovsepyan.%201286712.pdf?sequence=1
Project, C. (2022, April 27). Azerbaijan’s Constitution of 1995 with Amendments through 2016. Retrieved from constituteproject.org: https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Azerbaijan_2016.pdf?lang=enSada