(One of the Muslim countries with a tense political situation and an emerging Islamic identity which is not being covered by the corporate media is Azerbaijan Republic. In order to acquaint the Muslim Ummah with the situation in Azerbaijan, 5Pillarz conducted an interview with Maksud Djavadov, who is a researcher for the Toronto-based Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT) and a journalist for ICIT’s publication, Crescent International, specializing in covering the Muslim countries of the former USSR.)
By massively rigging the vote and having it declared a day before the actual election date, Ilham Aliyev's regime increased the possibility of a civil war.
Ilham Aliyev’s oppressive tactics are raising the credibility and influence of the Islamic movement in Azerbaijan.
Aliyevs, the illegitimate rulers of Azerbaijan are going nuts over coverage given to the Safavid rulers whose projection they see as threatening their rule. The real reason is that the Aliyevs fear the rise of the Islamic movement in the former Soviet republic.
The notion that the West plays by the rules, which sound great on paper, and works in accordance with established principles, has led to tragic consequences for Islamic movements in places like Algeria and Bahrain.
The US-backed Aliyev regime uses gimmicks and tame opposition to stay in power.
By making the Islamic movement its primary target over the past three years, the regime has actually bestowed greater credibility on the movement as the only legitimate opposition to its oppressive policies and therefore, worthy of public support.
In October 2010, the ruling regime in Azerbaijan banned hijab in public schools and revived an unprecedented socio-political activism of the Islamic movement. The mobilization is not only domestic, but also international. For the first time an international conference on an Islamic issue in Azerbaijan was organized.
"In Azerbaijan the government has never arrested leaders of secular political parties. However, the IPA leadership was imprisoned on numerous occasions without any legal basis."
One of the ways through which the enemies of Iran attempt to discredit its Islamic credentials is by “exposing” its relations with Armenia. The narrative goes as follows: if Iran is truly an Islamic state, why does it not provide all the required assistance to Azerbaijan to liberate occupied Karabakh from Armenian nationalists? Why does Iran have non-hostile relations with Armenia?
1No matter what the exact outcome of recent events in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, one thing is clear: Islamic revival in the former Soviet Union is gaining momentum.
A solution based on the principles of the Prophet’s (r) Sunnah and Sirah would allow Armenians in Karabakh to acquire true independence. The “independence” they have today has turned Karabakh Armenians into a political instrument of Russia and the US...
Fifteen years ago Azerbaijan went through one of its most traumatic events in modern history. For many Azeris this date represents the consolidation in power of a brutal dictatorship that rules Azerbaijan to this day.
It must also be noted that dictatorial regimes in Central Asia and Azerbaijan are not typical examples of authoritarian regimes driven by some sort of “big evil idea...
The democratic bug has spread so far and wide that even dictators are infected by it and find it useful to strengthen their grip on power. They use the democracy card to convince opponents that they respect the wishes of the people while they subvert the process so much that it makes mockery of the whole exercise. The subversion process starts with denying opposition candidates the opportunity to run for office. Electoral boundaries are manipulated to disadvantage opponents.
Are parliamentary elections – or, for that matter, presidential polls – inevitably rigged in a Muslim country that happens to be strategically placed, oil-rich and allied to Western countries, particularly the US? The answer seems to be "yes".
Azeri authorities launched a major crackdown on political opponents and critical journalists last month, after observers and opposition parties denounced major irregularities in the presidential elections of October 15.
The presidents of the five Caspian Sea littoral countries ended a two-day summit in Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital, on April 24 without reaching any agreement on how to share the Caspian and its rich hydrocarbon reserves.
Displaying characteristic arrogance and imperial over-reach, the US not only sent its troops for exercises into Uzbekistan but also got such arch-rivals as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to join in what were billed as Nato’s "Partnership for Peace" programme.
The French senate is set to consider a bill passed by the French National Assembly which recognizes the alleged genocide of Armenians by Turks during the first world war.
