On February 20, seven citizens were repatriated from Syria to Azerbaijan. According to the official report, two women and five children were kept in one of the camps in Syria. They first moved to Turkey and then to Azerbaijan. From time to time, information is spread in Azerbaijan about the trial of people who fought in the ranks of the Islamic State militants. It is known that the Iraqi authorities have long raised the problem of Azerbaijanis detained in their country.
In Baku, it seems, they chose not to publicize the issue and do not organize a mass repatriation, being wary of unfavorable international reactions. But the reality is difficult to hide. Several thousand Azerbaijani fighters fought in Iraq and Syria. Many of them crossed over to those countries with their families. The two women and five children, who were repatriated through Turkey on February 20, are certainly relatives of the killed Azerbaijani militants.
It is not known how many such persons are kept in camps in Iraq and Syria, how many refuse to return or prefer to stay in Turkey as well. And how is the fate of the repatriates arranged in Azerbaijan? Baku sources say nothing again. Of course, it can be accepted that it is the internal affairs of Azerbaijan. But the information about the repatriation coincides with the negotiations between Ilham Aliyev and the representatives of Iraqi Kurdistan in Munich and his visit to Ankara.
Apparently, we are talking about moving thousands of people to Azerbaijan, which may have serious consequences. Azerbaijani social media reported on “mass arrests of believers” in Baku, several other cities and rural areas since February 19. The “violence committed” against the members of the structure called “Islamic Solidarity” is especially emphasized.
Is there an “Islamic underground” in Azerbaijan? There is a high probability that the information about organizing repatriation from Iraq and Syria and the actions of law enforcement officers against the “Islamic Solidarity” organization is organized by the government itself. Ilham Aliyev has always used the “danger of establishing theocracy” in Azerbaijan to present his own dictatorship as “the only acceptable option”.
Almost simultaneously, it became known that the trial of “followers of the Gulen sect” has started in Baku. It is a tribute to the President of Turkey Erdoğan, at whose request schools founded and financed by Fethullah Gülen and many cultural centers were closed in Azerbaijan. What deep problems are there in connection with the repatriation of Gulenists, existing religious communities and terrorists who previously fought in the ranks of the Islamic State, and their family members?
It is true that in his inauguration speech, Ilham Aliyev officially declared a foreign policy policy of “standing in the front lines of the fight against Islamophobia”. This will allow to win the sympathy of Turkey and especially Iran. But internally, why are the members of the “Islamic Solidarity” organization persecuted? In Munich, did Aliyev promise to curb the Islamization of Azerbaijan, to limit the influence of political Islam?
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