Atheism or Hypocrisy, Which One Should We Side With?

Have anyone thought that Turkey, in supporting Republic of Azerbaijan’s invasion of Armenia, is pursuing some part of its scenario of Neo-Ottomanization?

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

That Karabakh dispute has very dimensions and multi-dimensions like inland, outland, regional and even international roots, and for this reason all regional and international actors are involved in this dispute, the Islamic Republic of Iran unlike them has emphasized solving the problem peacefully through mediation and insisted on it but other parties have shown no will in settling the dispute and they do not endeavor to quench this devastating and bloodshedding fire. Isn’t it interesting that today Iran’s share required to care has been more than other involved parties in the dispute? Because Karabakh in the past was part of northern region of Iran that was separated according to the Gulistan Treaty after the World War I and after the conflict between Iran and Tsardom of Russia and killing of Javad Khan Qajar, the last Iranian ruler of that area. After the collapse of Tsar Empire in Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia became independent, to some extent, thanks to possession of Iran’s lands.

Unfortunately we see some clerics and ulema in Iran issuing statements and claims that since Azerbaijan is a Shiite country and pro-Prophet Household, we should support Azerbaijan as a Shiite country and we should defeat Armenia. This is while our national interests do not necessitate, for the time being, to side with any one of them, and announcing readiness for mediation has been even the wisest decision.

However, one should ask this question who believes that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has taken military action just for the sake of Shiism’s interests while the country has signed military and security pact with Israel and has provided Israel with the base for its drones. The country uses Israeli equipment against people of Karabakh. In the Republic of Azerbaijan that we consider it a Shiite country and pro-Prophet Household, Muslims are not allowed to form religious processions in the month of Muharram and offenders against this order are severely punished. In this country many mosques which were revered by majority of Shiite population have been demolished that the last one was Fatemeh Zahra (A) Mosque in the Yeni Guneshli district in Baku.

In this country observing hijab (Islamic dress-code) in schools, universities and public places are forbidden and a large number of Muslim girls are expelled from educational places for observing their hijab and even some protestors to this policy like Haj Mohsen Samedov have been jailed and lost their lives due to the terrible prison condition as Samedov has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and he is still serving his prison term due to just being religious.

In Azerbaijan homosexuals are allowed to stage rallies or protests and even to have same sex marriage, and Aliyev’s government support them (It is not still forgotten that just a couple of months ago thousands of angry people in Tabriz staged a protest rally in front of Azerbaijan Consulate to react to this event). This is while holding mourning processions during Ashura and Arbaeen of the third imam of Shiites are barred. In Azerbaijan, playing adhan (call to prayer) or Holy Quran from loudspeakers of mosques are forbidden and if it is not observed it is considered as an anti-security act. In this country, saying prayers in the public and state places are forbidden and heavy penalties await the offenders (Some senior commanders in Azerbaijan Army have been expelled just for saying prayers). Women are obliged to use their photos without hijab in their passports or ID cards. Should we accept optimistically the claim of Shiism of this government? Or do we accept the Shiism claim as an apparent and obvious hypocrisy which is undeniable? Suppose that we have not had and do not have any peaceful relation with Armenia which is a non-Islamic country and we call them atheist but how can we not see the goals of Turkey behind this dispute?

Turkey’s interest for active presence in the Caucasus Region, and cooperation and proximity with Azerbaijan can be analyzed as the hegemonic goals and its major goals can be enumerated clearly. First Turkey with supporting Azerbaijan has a strategic approach towards the Caucasus Region for creating a strategic balance for competition with regional actors like Russia and Iran and attaches a special attention to extending its joint border with Iran. Secondly, economic goals of Turkey in the Caucasus Region for providing its energy through developing and expanding the oil pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) and cooperation with Azerbaijan have had a far-sighted process and it is part of its Neo-Ottomanization strategy in the region. Thirdly, Turkey’s motivation for entering the South Caucasus Region is accompanied with a nationalism and ideological approach. Turkish language, religion and common faith have caused Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to have a special view blended with support of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh issue. Now it is quite clear some of expenditures which are spent by Pan-Turkism in Iran are financed through which avenues.

One should intelligently notice that the prevailed condition in Caucasus Region is in a way that countries which are struggling with crises, like Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, have to rely on regional and trans-regional powers and actors for pursuing their goals and relations because of their incapability in managing the crisis and settling the disputes. So the success of Turkey in this region will not ever be to the benefit of the region.

The reason that Turkey does not intend to convince Azerbaijan to accept Iran’s mediation as the sheikh (leader and elder) of the region lies in this issue that the unconstructive role of international actors like  the OSCE Minsk Group (the U.S., Russia and France) is very calculated and bold for settling the dispute due to their differences over their interests, and continuation of the dispute and above all success of Azerbaijan will never be to the benefit of a sustainable peace in this geography.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian