Author: Jack Hunanian

AW: Russia–Azerbaijan Declaration on Allied Interaction: Implications for Armenia

Jack Hunanian
 Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan Opinion, Op-Eds 0

Declaration on “Allied Interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation” signed in Moscow, February 22, 2022

Since February 24, 2022, the world’s attention has been focused on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the US and European Union (EU) sanctions imposed on Russia. Politicians, experts and academicians are seeking to understand how and when the war will stop and what will be the short and midterm implications of Western sanctions on Russia and beyond. Armenia is not an exclusion, and debate is underway on the war’s potential political and economic implications on Armenia. However, the Russia-Ukraine war is not the only issue hotly debated in Armenia.

On February 22, just a day after the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics’ independence and two days before the launch of the Russian special military operation, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a declaration on allied interaction in Moscow. Given the existence of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh after the 2020 Karabakh war and the alliance between Russia and Armenia, the declaration on Russia-Azerbaijan allied interaction raised questions and concerns in Armenia. Article one of the declaration states that the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan build their relations on the basis of allied interaction, mutual respect for independence, state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the two countries. The critical question raised by Armenian experts touches upon the implications of this wording on the future of Nagorno Karabakh.

Meanwhile, to better understand what was signed by the two presidents and what implications it may have on South Caucasus regional geopolitics, it is worthy to briefly analyze the bilateral Russia-Azerbaijan relations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While the first president of independent Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov sought to maintain good relations with Russia, the second president Abulfaz Elchibey, who came to power in the summer of 1992, pursued an overt anti-Russian and pro-Turkish foreign policy based on the ideology of pan-Turkism. Elchibey’s foreign policy was a source of concern for Russia and Iran. 

After the military coup ousted Elchibey in June 1993, the longtime leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, returned to power. He sought to normalize relations with Russia, hoping to get Kremlin support in the war against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1993; however, it did not help Azerbaijan gain significant successes during its December 1993 major offensive in Karabakh. After the May 1994 ceasefire agreement, President Aliyev pursued balanced foreign policy. He deepened Azerbaijan’s connections with Western energy giants by signing a “Contract of the Century” in September 1994. However, Aliyev was smart enough to include Russian Lukoil in these deals. 

In 1997, Azerbaijan joined Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to establish GUAM, which was perceived as an organization to balance Russian influence in the post-Soviet space. As another manifestation of its balanced foreign policy, Azerbaijan signed a treaty of friendship, partnership and mutual security with Russia in the same year. The treaty’s first article declared that countries would base their relations on the principles of respect of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, almost identical to the wording used in the February 2022 declaration. In 1999, Azerbaijan did not renew its participation in the Collective Security Treaty with Russia and some other post-Soviet states. 

Azerbaijan-Russia relations entered a new phase after the election of Vladimir Putin in 2000. In January 2001, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a Baku declaration during President Putin’s visit to Azerbaijan. They declared their intention to raise bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership. The declaration mentioned the two states’ intention to develop long-term military and military-technical cooperation and again emphasized that Russia and Azerbaijan will base their relations on the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. Another essential step in bilateral relations was the January 2002 statement of presidents. Speaking about the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Russia and Azerbaijan emphasized that regional conflicts should be solved based on the principles of international law and, first of all, on the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of states.

President Ilham Aliyev sought to continue the balanced foreign policy of Azerbaijan. The launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines provided a solid base for rapid economic growth for Azerbaijan. In the early 2010s, Azerbaijan rejected signing an Association Agreement with the EU or joining the Eurasian Economic Union. Baku used its oil money to buy weapons from Russia, while the crackdown on Azerbaijani civil society in 2013-2014 negatively impacted Azerbaijan-West relations. The growing assertiveness of Russia in the post-Soviet space, the results of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, 2014 events in Ukraine, the shift of US focus to the Asia Pacific, and the changes in Russia-Turkey relations since 2016 towards more cooperation and less competition have created an impression in Azerbaijan that Russian influence will increase in the region and that Baku should adapt to that reality. The 2020 Karabakh war was another demonstration that regional players such as Russia and Turkey would play a growing role in defining the parameters of the regional security architecture, while the US, NATO and EU influence will continue to decrease. 

The February 2022 declaration of allied interaction is another element of Azerbaijan’s strategy of adaptation to this reality. As we can see, the wording about territorial integrity, inviolability of borders and military and military-technical cooperation has been in bilateral relations since 1997. The only novelty of the declaration, besides symbolically raising the bilateral relations from strategic partnership to alliance level, perhaps is the provision stating that parties will deepen interaction between the armed forces, including holding joint operational and combat training activities and developing other areas of bilateral military cooperation. Another significant issue is the provision, according to which Russia and Azerbaijan may consider the possibility of providing each other with military assistance based on the UN Charter, separate international treaties, and taking into account the existing international legal obligations of each of the parties.

How may this declaration impact Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia? Azerbaijan and Russia made a tacit deal: Russia recognizes Nagorno Karabakh de jure as part of Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan accepts de facto control of Russia over the small portion of Karabakh not invaded by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war. This declaration sends a clear signal that, most probably, Azerbaijan will not demand the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh in 2025. Does this mean that Russia will never recognize Karabakh independence? No. The situation in and around Karabakh resembles the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the mid-1990s until 2008, or the situation in Donetsk and Lugansk between February 2015-February 2022. In both cases, Russia de jure recognized these territories as part of Georgia and Ukraine while de facto controlling them. However, this does not prevent Russia from recognizing these entities’ independence due to the changing geopolitical environment. Thus, the task of Armenia and Armenians as a nation remains the same. Armenia should do its best to secure foreign military deployment in Nagorno Karabakh for at least the next 10 to 15 years. Another significant task is to increase the number of Armenians living there by at least 25 to 30 percent for the same period and modernize the Armenian economy and armed forces to protect Nagorno Karabakh without foreign forces if such a scenario becomes a reality.

  •  Bio
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Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is the founder and chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies. He was the former vice president for research – head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense Research University in Armenia. In March 2009, he joined the Institute for National Strategic Studies as a research Fellow and was appointed as INSS Deputy Director for research in November 2010. Dr. Poghosyan has prepared and managed the elaboration of more than 100 policy papers which were presented to the political-military leadership of Armenia, including the president, the prime minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Poghosyan has participated in more than 50 international conferences and workshops on regional and international security dynamics. His research focuses on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and the Middle East, US – Russian relations and their implications for the region, as well as the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. He is the author of more than 200 academic papers and articles in different leading Armenian and international journals. In 2013, Dr. Poghosyan was a Distinguished Research Fellow at the US National Defense University College of International Security Affairs. He is a graduate from the US State Department Study of the US Institutes for Scholars 2012 Program on US National Security Policy Making. He holds a PhD in history and is a graduate from the 2006 Tavitian Program on International Relations at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.


Armenia marks remembrance day for prominent artist Minas Avetisyan

Jack Hunanian
panorama.am
Armenia – Feb 23 2022


Today, February 23, marks the remembrance day of Minas Avetisyan, a renowned Armenian painter of the 20th century.

In an interview with Panorama.am, the sone of the artist Narek Avetisyan once said: "February 23 used to be celebrated as the Army Day in the Soviet Union. The authorities used to exercise cencorship, and we had to formally mark the remembrance day on February 24."

To note, Minas died in a car accident in 1975.

Born in 1928 in Armenia’s Jajur village, Minas Avetisyan, known simply as Minas, was a painter and set designer. From 1952 to 1954, he studied at the Institute of Theater and Art in Yerevan, and from 1954 to 1960, at the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

He benefited from the advice of famous Armenian painter Martiros Saryan, but developed a style of his own, with an intense use of color similar to that of Fauvism. The influence of Armenian medieval art is strongly apparent in his landscapes, self-portraits and scenes of peasant life. His work combines an uncommon and expressive richness of color with a dramatic monumentality of composition. In 1962, he had a one-man show in Yerevan, and another in Moscow in 1969. In 1972, a fire in his studio destroyed a large portion of his work.

Minas was one of those Armenian artists who put the color back into painting. "Put the color back into painting" – such an _expression_ might seem strange, but if you go into the Matenadaran and look through the yellowed pages of the ancient manuscripts there, you will understand what is meant: there on the parchment, in all their splendor, shine the bright, sonorous colors – blue, yellow, green, red… Color plays an enormous role in the work of Avetisian. Some of his pictures are unequaled in contemporary Armenian painting in the intensity of their colors.

27 bridges, 5 tunnels: Infrastructures Minister describes monumental Sisian-Kajaran road project

Jack Hunanian

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 11:52, 17 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan said the new Sisian-Kajaran road section will be “a well-maintained, safe road in line with modern standards.”

Sanosyan said it is a massive project with rather encompassing infrastructures.

“The total length of the North-South road is approximately 560 kilometers, and this 60 kilometers are one of the key sections. Now we have an average of 50 km/h speed on the current road from Sisian to Kajaran. We will have 100 km/h speed with this new road, and the travel time will be reduced by two hours. It will be a well-maintained safe road in line with modern standards, which is very important from a strategic point of view,” Sanosyan said.

He added that the road is an entirely new road with 27 bridges. The total length of the bridges are 4,7 kilometers. There are tunnel sections with a total length of more than 12 kilometers. There will be 5 tunnels in total, with one of them being 8,6 kilometers in length.

“We will do everything so that major international companies have serious interest in this project. We will have a contractor by yearend if no obstacles happen,” he said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting that the pre-qualification tender for the Sisian-Kajaran section of the North-South road was announced on February 17.

Pashinyan said that this project is of great strategic importance. The project is worth a few hundred million dollars.

“Essentially, an investment project of this size has never been implemented in the history of independent Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

“I want to say that as a result of the latest discussions we have re-formulated the North-South project and made it a “North-South, East-West” project. We hope to implement this project with fast pace. This means that one of the branches of this road will connect Armenia with Iran, the other branch will connect Armenia with Azerbaijan, then in the future towards Nakhijevan and Turkey. We place this project in the general context. We hope we’ll have a construction company by yearend who will implement the work. Of course the east-west section of the road project isn’t done but we will realize this in the context of reaching future agreements,” Pashinyan said.

The pre-qualification phase will last 70 days.

Pashinyan added that concrete works are now underway for the construction of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway. He expressed hope that the agreements that have been reached will soon be recorded in the form of any document, and the process would take full-swing implementation already de jure.

Armenia celebrates Book Giving Day on Tumanyan’s birthday

Jack Hunanian
panorama.am
Armenia – Feb 19 2022


SOCIETY 11:57 19/02/2022 ARMENIA

Book Giving Day is annually celebrated in Armenia on February 19, the birthday anniversary of renowned Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan. The holiday has gained great popularity in the country over the years.

Armenia has been celebrating the Book Giving Day since 2008 at the initiative of Levon Ananyan, the late chairman of the Writers Union of Armenia.

Hovhannes Tumanyan was born in 1869 in the village of Dsegh, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lori Province, Armenia). His father, Aslan, was the village priest known by the name Ter-Tadevos. His mother, Sona, was an avid storyteller with a particular interest in fables. Young Tumanyan was the oldest of eight children.

From 1877 to 1879, Tumanyan attended the parochial school of Dsegh. From 1879-1883, he went to a school in Jalaloghly. Tumanyan moved to Tiflis in 1883, where he attended the Nersisyan School from 1883–1887. He wrote his first poem at the age of 12, while studying in Jalaloghly school. He lived at the teacher's house for a while and fell in love with the teacher's daughter Vergine. Since 1893, Tumanyan worked for Aghbyur, Murtch, Hasker and Horizon periodicals and also was engaged in public activism.

In 1899 Tumanyan came up with an idea of organizing meetings of Armenian intellectuals of the time at his house on 44 Bebutov Street in Tiflis (present-day Amaghleba 18, in Sololaki). Soon it became an influential literary group, which often gathered in the garret of Tumanyan's house. Vernatun means garret in Armenian, which was the name the group was referred to. Prominent members of the collective were Avetik Isahakyan, Derenik Demirchyan, Levon Shant, Ghazaros Aghayan, Perch Proshyan, Nikol Aghbalian, Alexander Shirvanzade, Nar-Dos, Vrtanes Papazyan, Vahan Terian, Leo, Stepan Lisitsyan, Mariam Tumanyan, Gevorg Bashinjagyan and many other significant Armenian figures of early 20th century. With some pauses, it existed until 1908.

In 1912 Tumanyan was elected the president of the Company of Caucasus Armenian Writers.

In the fall of 1921, Tumanyan went to Constantinople to find support of Armenian refugees. After months spent there, he returned ill. After surgery in 1922, he started to get better. But in September, Tumanyan's disease started to persist again. He was transferred to a hospital in Moscow, where he died on March 23, 1923.

Tumanyan is usually regarded in Armenian circles as "All-Armenian poet". He earned this title when the Catholicos of Armenia had ordered that Armenian refugees from the west not enter certain areas of his church and house, since he is considered to be "The Catholicos of all Armenians". Tumanyan in response decried that decision claiming that the refugees could seek relief in the Catholicos' quarters under order of "The Poet of all Armenians".

Tumanyan wrote poems, quatrains, ballads, novels, fables, critical and journalistic articles. His work is simple, natural and poetically inspired at the same time. It is not by mere chance that dozens of phrases and expressions from Tumanyan's works have become a natural part of people's everyday language, their sayings, adages, and maxims.

Many films and animated films have been adapted from Tumanyan's works. Two operas –  Anush (1912) by Armen Tigranian and Almast (1930) by Alexander Spendiaryan – were written based on his works.

Over 1400 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Jack Hunanian

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 11:09,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. 1417 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 413,295, the Armenian Ministry of Healthcare reported.

25 people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the total death toll to 8278.

5659 tests were administered (total 2,851,836).

2825 people recovered (total 386,193).

As of February 18, the number of active cases stood at 17,239.

Donetsk reports a sharp escalation of the situation on the line of contact

Jack Hunanian

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 18:45,

YEREVAN, 17 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Donetsk police announced that the situation on the line of contact in Donbas has deteriorated sharply. ARMENPRESS reports, citing Ria Novosti, the Police informed that the Ukrainian armed forces violated the ceasefire regime 18 times on February 18.

"The situation on the line of contact has sharply deteriorated. The adversary is trying to launch active military operations. During the day, the Ukrainian armed forces violated the ceasefire 18 times," the spokesman of the ministry told reporters.

Peacekeepers should remain in Karabakh until end of conflict — Armenia’s Security Council

Jack Hunanian
TASS, Russia
Feb 10 2022
Until there is a solution, the presence of the peacekeepers is necessary, Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan noted

YEREVAN, February 10. /TASS/. Armenia thinks that Russia’s peacekeeping contingent should remain in Nagorno-Karabakh until the conflict is completely resolved, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said at a briefing on Thursday.

"We think that until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved, the peacekeepers should be there in order to find a long-term solution. Until there is a solution, the presence of the peacekeepers is necessary," he stated.

In the fall of 2020, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated with armed clashes occurring on the disputed territory. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held, a number of regions would be controlled by Azerbaijan, and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region along the line of engagement and the Lachin corridor.

F18News: AZERBAIJAN: State takes direct control of mosque leadership

Jack Hunanian 
FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--5aPRnrLQ$
 

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief

=================================================

Thursday 10 February 2022
AZERBAIJAN: State takes direct control of mosque leadership

The State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations will take over
naming imams in all mosques from the Caucasian Muslim Board if amendments
to the Religion Law awaiting their second reading in Parliament are
approved. The amendments would also give the State Committee the leading
role in re-appointing all imams every five years. Commentator on religious
issues Kanan Rovshanoglu notes that the Caucasian Muslim Board "will
completely lose control over mosques", just as it has already lost control
over Islamic higher education. He argues that Islamic communities
themselves should choose their own imams. Another amendment would remove
the possibility for non-Muslim communities to have a "religious centre" or
headquarter body.

AZERBAIJAN: State takes direct control of mosque leadership
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2717__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4NC9ZyVQ$
 
By Felix Corley, Forum 18

Further amendments to the much-amended Religion Law now in Parliament will
– if adopted in current form – hand responsibility for naming prayer
leaders in all mosques from the Caucasian Muslim Board to the State
Committee for Work with Religious Organisations. The State Committee
already oversees all Muslim educational establishments, censors religious
literature of all faiths and approves or bans the building or renovation of
any place of worship. "The State Committee is collecting all the power it
can over the Muslim community," exiled human rights defender Arif Yunus
told Forum 18.

Kanan Rovshanoglu, a journalist and commentator on religious issues, argues
that Islamic communities themselves should choose their own imams and then
inform officials of who they have chosen. He noted that the Caucasian
Muslim Board "will completely lose control over mosques" when the
amendments are adopted. He told Qafqazinfo news website that the state
takeover of the Board's powers has been underway for several years (see
below).

The amendments would also give the State Committee the leading role in
re-appointment of all imams every five years, with only the "involvement"
of the Caucasian Muslim Board. This is a reversal of the State Committee
and Muslim Board roles when the state mandated re-appointment of all imams
in June 2021 amendments to the Religion Law (see below).

The amendments would re-designate the Caucasian Muslim Board not as the
"organisational" centre but the "religious" centre for Azerbaijan's
mosques. The regime does not allow independent mosques to exist (see
below).

Another amendment would remove the possibility for non-Muslim communities
to have a "religious centre" or headquarter body. However, this term is
poorly defined in the current Religion Law and the implications of the
change remain unclear (see below).

The latest Religion Law amendments were announced only on 27 January, when
they were discussed in the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Public Associations
and Religious Organisations Committee. The text of the amendments was then
published on the Milli Majlis website. The amendments were adopted in their
first reading on 1 February. No dates have been set for the second and
third readings (see below).

The state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) appeared to accept
the stripping of further responsibilities from it. The Board "calls on
believers and clergy to unequivocally comply with all provisions of the Law
in case of adoption of new amendments" to the Religion Law, it declared in
a 27 January statement (see below).

Forum 18 was unable to reach Public Associations and Religious
Organisations Committee Chair Fazail Ibrahimli or other Committee members
on 9 February. Staff of the Committee refused to discuss anything with
Forum 18. Another Milli Majlis deputy, Siyavush Novruzov, former Chair of
the Committee who now chairs the Regional Affairs Committee, declined to
comment on the amendments. "I haven't read them," he told Forum 18 (see
below).

Gunduz Ismayilov, a Deputy Chair of the State Committee, addressed the 27
January Milli Majlis Committee about the amendments and was present during
the first reading on 1 February. An aide to Ismayilov refused to put Forum
18 through to him on 9 February (see below).

On 16 June 2021, President Ilham Aliyev signed into law earlier Religion
Law amendments 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2666__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7qMsf8XQ$
 ) which
introduced a new requirement for the State Committee for Work with
Religious Organisations to approve the appointment of all non-Islamic
religious leaders.

It appears that the Moscow Patriarchate chose a candidate to succeed the
late Archbishop Aleksandr (Ishchein) as Russian Orthodox bishop of Baku in
2021, but failed to get approval from the State Committee. "The rejection
came from the Presidential Administration," Arif Yunus told Forum 18 (see
below).

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Committee made public two
further rulings in November and December 2021 finding that Azerbaijan had
violated the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses to freedom of religion or belief
(see forthcoming F18News article).

Increasing number, expense of state religious affairs officials

State funds spent on the growing network of officials employed by the State
Committee to control the exercise of the right to religion or belief
continue to increase. State funding is now more than three times the level
of eight years ago.

Under a 3 December 2021 Presidential Decree, state funds allocated to the
State Committee for its own activities in 2022 amount to 4,014,799 Manats
(21 million Norwegian Kroner, 2 million Euros or 2.4 million US Dollars).
In 2014, the state had allocated 1,228,964 Manats to the State Committee
for its own activities.

The State Committee employs a growing number of staff (174 at the latest
count) to control the exercise of the right to religion or belief, both at
its headquarters and its regional branches.

In 2014, the State Committee headquarters in Baku had 4 senior officials
overseeing its activity. Under them it had 6 departments each with their
own activity. It had 9 local branches, employing 29 officials in 7 of them,
plus further officials in Baku and Sumgait.

In February 2022, the State Committee headquarters in Baku has 6 senior
officials overseeing its activity. Under them it has 9 departments each
with their own activity with a total of 79 officials. It has 15 local
branches, employing 89 officials.

Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, an exclave of Azerbaijan, has its own
State Agency for Work with Religious Organisations with its own staff.

Ever-increasing state control of Islam

While the regime keeps all religious communities under control, it has been
particularly tightening its control over mosques in recent years. Almost
all the remaining Sunni mosques were closed, including in Baku and Ganca.

In 2018, the State Committee took over control of higher Islamic education
from the state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ). The Azerbaijan
Theological Institute, established by a Presidential Decree of 9 February
2018, is the only higher educational establishment the regime allows to
operate.

The regime closed Baku Islamic University, operated by the Caucasian Muslim
Board, later in 2018. The state does not recognise as valid the 3,500
diplomas the University awarded between its foundation in 1989 and its
closure.

The first graduates of Azerbaijan Theological Institute are due to complete
their studies in 2022 and the state will then appoint them to lead mosques.

Since Religion Law amendments in December 2015
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ), Article 21 has
banned both Azerbaijani citizens who had studied abroad and non-Azerbaijani
citizens from conducting Islamic rituals. (From 2018 the State Committee
could give foreign-educated clergy permission to conduct Islamic rituals.)

A new Criminal Code Article 168-1 ("Violation of the procedure for
religious propaganda and religious ceremonies") was also introduced at the
same time 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2134__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--749v60RQ$
 ).

Imam Sardar Babayev was the first and only person known to have been
punished under Article 168-1. He was jailed between February 2017 and
February 2020 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2350__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4vckyfpg$
 ).

Imam Babayev was among five prominent Shia preachers detained on 19 October
2021. He is now facing further criminal prosecution. The other four were
freed after questioning, one after several hours and three after a week.
Another Shia preacher was detained and questioned on 29 October 2021 (see
forthcoming F18News article).

A court jailed a Muslim from Lokbatan for two weeks in November 2021 after
police halted a protest against the replacement of an imam (see forthcoming
F18News article).

Amendments prepared as usual in secret, no legal review sought

As with the June 2021 Religion Law amendments
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2666__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7qMsf8XQ$
 ) and those in earlier
years, the regime prepared the latest Religion Law
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) amendments in secrecy
and with no public consultation.

The regime did not seek a review of these amendments
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2653__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7csI7ZWA$
 ) from either the
Council of Europe's Venice Commission or the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights. The two inter-governmental organisations, often together, provide
reviews of laws and draft laws on request.

Inter-governmental organisations have repeatedly criticised the regime's
restrictions on freedom of religion and belief and other human rights
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ). Both the Council of
Europe's Venice Commission and the OSCE have drawn extensively on their
highly critical October 2012 Joint Opinion on the Religion Law
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/4150/file/214_FOR_AZE_15*20Oct*202012_en.pdf__;JSU!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4HaK0JPA$
 )
in the OSCE/Venice Commission Joint Guidelines on the Legal Personality of
Religion or Belief Communities 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.osce.org/odihr/139046__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4fIOpuHw$
 ).

Amendments awaiting second reading

No election in Azerbaijan – including February 2020 Milli Majlis
(Parliament) elections - has ever been found to be free and fair
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/azerbaijan__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--5mmVcryA$
 ) by Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election observers.

The latest Religion Law amendments were announced only on 27 January, when
they were discussed in the Milli Majlis Public Associations and Religious
Organisations Committee. The text of the amendments was then published on
the Milli Majlis website.

The 27 January Milli Majlis Committee meeting, chaired by Committee chair
Fazail Ibrahimli, was also addressed by Gunduz Ismayilov, a Deputy Chair of
the State Committee. The head and another official of the State Building,
Administrative and Military Legislation Department were also present.

Among Milli Majlis Committee members present for the discussion was
Javanshir Pashazade, younger brother of the head of the state-controlled
Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) Sheikh-ul-Islam
Allahshukur Pashazade.

"The deputies said the amendments would serve to improve activities in this
area," the Milli Majlis claimed about the 27 January Committee discussion,
"and spoke about their importance in terms of state-religion relations."

Forum 18 was unable to reach Committee Chair Ibrahimli or other Committee
members on 9 February. Phones of aides went unanswered or, in the case of
Malik Hasanov, his aide said he was out of the country. Staff of the
Committee refused to discuss anything with Forum 18.

Siyavush Novruzov, former Chair of the Public Associations and Religious
Organisations Committee who now chairs the Regional Affairs Committee,
declined to comment on the amendments. "I'm no longer chair of that
Committee," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 9 February. Asked whether he will
vote for them on second reading, he responded: "I haven't read them. I will
decide then." Phones of other deputies went unanswered the same day.

After the Milli Majlis Committee approved the amendments, they were sent
for consideration by the full parliament. They were adopted in their first
reading on 1 February, according to the Milli Majlis website. Ismayilov of
the State Committee was also present for the first reading.

The Public Associations and Religious Organisations Committee held a
meeting on 9 February to prepare for the second reading of the amendments.
No dates have been made public for the second and third readings.

In an interview with news website Report on 4 February, Ismayilov of the
State Committee claimed that the Milli Majlis had initiated the amendments.

An aide to Ismayilov at the State Committee put the phone down on 9
February after Forum 18 asked to speak to him about the amendments.

State to directly control all mosque leader appointments

The further amendments to the much-amended Religion Law awaiting their
second reading in Parliament will – if adopted in current form – hand
responsibility for naming prayer leaders in all mosques from the
state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) to the State
Committee for Work with Religious Organisations. The State Committee would
then inform the Board of who it has appointed.

In Article 8 of the current Religion Law, the Board names imams and then
informs the State Committee of their appointment.

Gunduz Ismayilov, a Deputy Chair of the State Committee, defended the
proposed role of the state in naming imams. "It is true that according to
our Constitution, religion is separate from the state and Azerbaijan is a
secular state," he told Report in his 4 February interview. "However, the
appointment of a cleric by a state body does not contradict the principles
of secularism and secularism."

Ismayilov claimed that setting out the provisions of Sharia law and naming
imams are different. "The state does not interfere in the Sharia and
doctrines by appointing a cleric," he claimed. He cited the state
appointment of imams in Turkey. "Muslim clerics have been appointed by the
Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) since Ataturk. Mosque imams are
civil servants in Turkey."

Kanan Rovshanoglu, a journalist and commentator on religious issues, argues
that Islamic communities themselves should choose their own imams and then
inform officials of who they have chosen. He noted that the
state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) "will completely lose
control over mosques" when the amendments are adopted.

Rovshanoglu pointed out to Qafqazinfo news website on 28 January that first
the Caucasian Muslim Board named imams, then it named the imams but had to
inform the State Committee or all appointments, and now the State Committee
will make the appointments.

The amendments to Article 8 of the Religion Law would also give the State
Committee the leading role in re-appointing all imams every five years,
with only the "involvement" of the Caucasian Muslim Board. This is a
reversal of the State Committee and Muslim Board roles when the state
mandated re-appointment of imams in June 2021 amendments to the Religion
Law 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2666__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7qMsf8XQ$
 ).

Another amendment to Article 8 of the Religion Law would re-designate the
state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) not as the
"organisational" centre but the "religious" centre for Azerbaijan's
mosques. This would mean in effect that the Board no longer has any power
over how individual mosques are run, with all decisions taken by the State
Committee.

The State Committee already controls all Muslim educational establishments,
imposes state censorship of all religious literature of any kind, and
approves or bans the building or renovation of any place of worship
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ). "The State Committee
is collecting all the power it can over the Muslim community," exiled
historian and human rights defender Arif Yunus
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.rferl.org/a/baku-ordered-to-pay-compensation-to-prominent-rights-defenders/30730281.html__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4ohHxhIA$
 )
told Forum 18 from the Netherlands on 8 February.

Rovshanoglu told Qafqazinfo that the state takeover of the Board's powers
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) has been underway for
several years and pointed to the State Committee's 2018 decision to take
direct control over Islamic education. "From now on, the Caucasian Muslim
Board will be a public organisation that only issues religious fatwas and
significant calendar items."

Caucasian Muslim Board appears to accept stripping of further
responsibilities

The state-controlled Caucasian Muslim Board
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) appears to accept the
stripping of further responsibilities from it. The Board "calls on
believers and clergy to unequivocally comply with all provisions of the Law
in case of adoption of new amendments" to the Religion Law, it declared in
a 27 January statement on its website.

"As a religious centre," the statement added, "the CMB, in cooperation with
the relevant executive body of the state [State Committee], is always
closely involved in the implementation of state policy in the religious and
spiritual sphere and will continue to contribute to ensuring a high level
of religion-state relations."

Gunduz Ismayilov, a Deputy Chair of the State Committee
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ), welcomed the Board's
27 January statement accepting the stripping of responsibilities from it.
"With this statement, the Caucasian Muslim Board demonstrated its
commitment to our statehood and national interests," he told Report in his
4 February interview.

No official of the Caucasian Muslim Board was available on 10 February to
discuss with Forum 18 the impact of the new amendments now in the Milli
Majlis.

No "religious centres" for non-Muslim communities

An amendment to Article 12 of the Religion Law, which covers how
communities apply for registration, would remove any role for "religious
centres" or headquarter bodies in registration applications by individual
communities.

Under Article 12, registered individual religious communities are allowed
to operate only at their legal address.

As at present 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ),
communities seeking state registration would have to prepare a statute
approved at a members' meeting, and collect the full details of their 50
adult founders, "indicating their citizenship, place of residence and date
of birth, copies of identity documents, basics of religious education,
including religious information on the history of the community, the forms
and methods of its activities, traditions, attitudes to the family,
marriage and education, and restrictions on the rights and responsibilities
of members of the community". The communities would then submit their
application with all this information directly to the State Committee.

The amendment to Article 12 also removes any specific mention of "religious
centres" when it sets out how religious organisations apply for state
registration. This appears to remove the possibility for non-Muslim
communities to have a "religious centre" or headquarter body. However, this
term is poorly defined in the current Religion Law and the implications of
the change remain unclear.

The Russian Orthodox Church has only one registered organisation – its
Baku diocese – which has seven constituent parishes. Russian Orthodox
clergy in Baku declined to discuss with Forum 18 on 9 February whether the
amendments might affect the functioning of their parishes.

Jeyhun Mammadov, a Milli Majlis deputy who is on the Public Associations
and Religious Organisations Committee, claimed to SIA news website on 28
January that the requirement that religious communities send their
applications directly to the State Committee "will speed up the
registration process".

Despite this claim, the State Committee has repeatedly rejected or ignored
registration applications
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 ) from religious
communities it does not like. Independent mosques, Protestant Christian
communities and Jehovah's Witness communities are among those whose
applications have failed.

A Jehovah's Witness community in Azerbaijan's second city Ganca applied for
state registration in July 2010. In May 2016 the State Committee rejected
the application with objections "that were not legally valid in our view",
Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 on 10 February 2022. A Jehovah's Witness
community in the northern town of Qakh applied for state registration more
recently. Both communities are still waiting for registration.

"We would like to have national registration in order to address the
problem of communities where the number of members does not meet the
numerical threshold to apply," Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. They note
the almost complete removal of references to a "national centre" in the
latest Religion Law amendments.

Conflict over naming new Russian Orthodox bishop?

Under the Religion Law amendments signed into law in June 2021
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2666__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7qMsf8XQ$
 ), all non-Islamic
religious communities need to get approval for any new leader from the
State Committee.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Diocese, Archbishop Aleksandr (Ishchein),
died on 10 June 2021, six days before President Aliyev signed the new
amendments into law.

By the time of Archbishop Aleksandr's funeral on 13 June 2021, the Moscow
Patriarchate had named Archbishop Feofilakt (Kuryanov) of the Russian
diocese of Pyatigorsk in addition as temporary administrator of the Baku
diocese. Archbishop Feofilakt has also been temporary administrator of the
Russian Orthodox deanery of Turkmenistan since 2008.

It appears that the Moscow Patriarchate chose a candidate to succeed
Aleksandr as bishop in 2021, but failed to get approval from the State
Committee. "The rejection came from the Presidential Administration," Arif
Yunus told Forum 18.

Russian Orthodox clergy in Baku declined to discuss with Forum 18 what is
obstructing the naming of a new bishop to the Baku Diocese. (END)

Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=23__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7qgDF8Uw$
 )

For more background, see Forum 18's Azerbaijan religious freedom survey
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2429__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7rI8Lv5g$
 )

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1351__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--4F57ejeg$
 )

Follow us on Twitter @Forum_18 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://twitter.com/forum_18__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--7yCc2yEA$
 )

Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.facebook.com/Forum18NewsService__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_lFmrpVV1jnG-L2GOJMHbIfTc9d_B3ACyI87b-fR60p3AzBlgHmc--71M9vZWQ$
 )

All Forum 18 text may be referred to, quoted from, or republished in full,
if Forum 18 is credited as the source.

All photographs that are not Forum 18's copyright are attributed to the
copyright owner. If you reuse any photographs from Forum 18's website, you
must seek permission for any reuse from the copyright owner or abide by the
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Opposition MP: Armenia lagging behind its enemy in military reforms

Jack Hunanian
panorama.am
Armenia – Feb 10 2022

The lack of a concept for reforms in the Armenian army hampers serious changes in the defense system, according to MP Tigran Abrahamyan from the opposition With Honor faction.

“In this regard, Armenia is also lagging behind its traditional enemy [Azerbaijan], which embarked on military reforms last year,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

“The Armenian defense minister claims that in the near future the reforms will be discussed and made public, meanwhile adding that he still has reservations about the developed concept.

“In Armenia, it’s constantly talked about the development of the military-industrial complex, but the system has had no leader for 1.3 years, with the industry left in a strange situation.

“The promises and assurances sound nice, but they have little to do with reality,” Abrahamyan said.

Armenpress: PM Pashinyan hosts Loris Tjeknavorian

Jack Hunanian

PM Pashinyan hosts Loris Tjeknavorian

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 21:14, 4 February, 2022

YEREVAN, 4 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted composer, conductor Loris Tjeknavorian, ARMENPRESS wa sinformed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister assessed Mr. Tjeknavorian’s contribution to the art of music as invaluable. Nikol Pashinyan inquired about the current activities of the composer and expressed hope that he will continue to enrich Armenian music with new works.

During the meeting, the opportunities and perspectives of presenting the maestro's new works in the homeland were discussed.