Azerbaijan is a secular state with a Shia Muslim majority. The nation serves as an example of efforts by a Shia Muslim state to engage its many diverse cultures in society. Professor Rovshan Ibrahimov, with Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (South Korea), has insights regarding Azerbaijan’s interregional influence, based on Azerbaijan’s overlooked diplomatic values.
The western press and Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continue their info salvo against the post-war processes in the Karabakh. The Holy Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, also called Gazanchi Church, is now under construction, as Azerbaijan sets to restore the cathedral to its original status after it was damaged during the 44-Day Karabakh War of 2020.
The war in Karabakh saw rivers turned to poison, farms turned to fields of landmines, cemeteries, and temples crushed to dust, and forests on fire. From the leopard to the beehive no living thing was spared over in the great destruction that followed the 30-year war for the Karabakh.
Azerbaijan is a nation friendly with NATO member Turkey. Since May 4, 1994, Azerbaijan has cooperated with the NATO Partnership for Peace Program. Trend News Agency reported this cooperation as “extremely effective” for the past 27 years and one day since it was established.
Israel, Turkey, and Azerbaijan share a common interest in restoring the Karabakh region. Republic Underground discussed the potential to build ground-up sustainable smart cities in this recent summit.
Joe Biden had the power to influence a deescalation policy in the wake of armed conflict between Armenia and its Turkic neighbors. The policy of recognizing the narrative of WWI events rather than historical unbiased query has set a precedent for the race relations contingency throughout America, and now, through this action, the international community as well.
Above image recently submitted to the record is of an Azerbaijani grave that was disinterred during the Armenian occupation of Karabakh. The Karabakh conflict was not a hostile foreign invasion by Azerbaijan of Armenian territory, but was rather the ethnic cleansing by the Armenian government of a region that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was once mutually occupied by Azerbaijanis and Armenians. Read more survivor testimony below to understand a further perspective of the conflict.
Image recently submitted to the record as a courtesy of guest contributors. This image shows the destruction of Azerbaijani ancestral graves in Karabakh. Armenians and Azerbaijanis continue to be reeled into the politicization of war crimes committed during the Karabakh conflict, as well as international controversy over wartime and post-2020 ceasefire era rhetoric.
Republic Underground had the chance to interview French photographer Gregory Herpe on his visit to Azerbaijan. Herpe sees Azerbaijan as a nation waiting for the rest of the world, with arms open to welcome visitors from the West.
On April 2, Joshua Kucera, a contributor for Eurasia.net news, wrote in his Post-War report regarding the changing terminology for Karabakh. Previously, Karabakh was referred to as “Nagorno-Karabakh” a Soviet-era name for the mountain enclave that is located in a landlocked position between Armenia and Azerbaijan and is a liberated territory of Azerbaijan proper.
The western world often leaves Azerbaijan’s status as its own republic out of the conversation of regional diplomatic solutions, tending to view its strong ties to Turkey as mutually inclusive to Ankara’s agendas. This perception guides some of the rhetoric regarding the Karabakh conflict as well as the approach the incumbent U.S. President should take in U.S.-Turkey, Caucasus policy moving forward. Previous rhetoric’s flaws will need a new light shed to move toward lasting peace solutions.
In March, Azerbaijan celebrates the Nowruz spring holiday. The word Novruz means “New Day” and so Novruz is the festival of the “New Day” or the Spring Equinox. Painted eggs and healthy feasts recalled Easter to the western observer, which is the Christianized form of a similar festival in ancient Europe.