Voskanian: West fully realizes Islamic danger in Azerbaijan

When speaking about the danger of Salafism in their country, Azerbaijani journalists say there are some 50 thousand Salafists there, noting that this number does not pose a danger, Vardan Voskanian, an associate professor of Iranian Studies Sub-Department of Yerevan State University, told Aysor.am.

Leaving aside the obvious debatable nature of this idea, it should be noted that the West already fully realizes the real danger of this Islamic movement in Azerbaijan.

The actions of some Western sociopolitical circles aimed at Azerbaijan’s federalization through ethno-territorial autonomies by using platforms of pan-European organizations should also be viewed in this context.

In particular the matter concerns the discussion on peace building in the Caucasus due in Brussels on February 19, about which the Azerbaijani mass media have released information and comments since yesterday, resenting first of all the fact that President of the Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic Alikram Hummatov was invited to the conference.

One thing is strange. The West fully understands that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic cannot be a direct participant of Azerbaijan’s federalization process because it never was and does not intend to be part of this artificial formation. For that reason even an attempt to theoretically view Artsakh as one of the possible autonomies of the Azerbaijani Federation is not serious.

If the matter concerns neighboring states’ participation, then Armenia’s involvement in the formation of Talysh, Tat, Lezgin, and Avar autonomies could be much more useful, given Yerevan’s ample opportunities to influence ethnic developments in the South Caucasus, especially under conditions of European support.

And the West should understand that the possible participation of Armenia in Azerbaijan’s federalization should be considered a serious concession as, for example, the Talysh socioeconomic circles mostly demand Talyshstan’s full independence, rather than its sovereignty.