RECENT STEPS HIGHLIGHT GOAJ'S ATTEMPT TO CONTROL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001244

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KISL AJ
SUBJECT: RECENT STEPS HIGHLIGHT GOAJ'S ATTEMPT TO CONTROL
ISLAM

REF: BAKU 01069

Classified By: DCM Donald Lu for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: In September, two television programs about
Islam were canceled or temporarily suspended, reportedly in
response to GOAJ pressure. In an unrelated incident, the
rector of the Azerbaijani Teachers' Institute in September
sought to keep veiled female students from attending classes.
Both parties reached a compromise, whereby the students are
allowed to wear the hijab during Ramazan, but will stop
wearing it after the holiday. In still another separate
incident in August, the State Committee for Work with
Religious Associations temporarily closed 19 official
madrassas to reexamine their curriculum; the official
madrassas remain closed as of early October. End Summary.


2. (C) In late September, during Ramazan, two television
programs about Islam were abruptly canceled or temporarily
suspended. ANS' "Allah Haggi" ("I Swear to God") and local
Public Television's "Juma Sohbeti" ("Friday Talks") were
suspended within several days of each other. Local contacts
report that the GOAJ pressured both stations to suspend or
revise their programs. An ANS manager told PAO that
Presidential Administration Political Advisor Ali Hasanov
told ANS' management to stop "Allah Haggi," claiming that the
order had come from above. Religious freedom activist Ilgar
Ibrahimoglu also told us that instructions had come "from the
top" to shut down the ANS program. Ibrahimoglu said ANS
probably will broadcast a new program in place of "Allah
Haggi" in the coming weeks, but the content will not be
exclusively religious. The host of Public Television's "Juma
Sohbeti" Elshan Mustafayev, told us the station's program
will probably be reinstated, but the substance will be
significantly altered. Previously, the show featured
discussion of religious issues by religious scholars and
commentators. Under the new format, religious issues will
not be discussed or religious scholars will not participate.


3. (C) Also in late September, several veiled female students
were prevented from attending courses at the Azerbaijani
Teachers' Institute. The Institute's rector Agiya
Nakhchivanly said she was concerned by the growing number of
women wearing the hijab, observing that there was an increase
from five to 18 veiled students over the past year.
According to Ibrahimoglu, representatives from the Ministry
of Education were involved in brokering a compromise between
Nakhchivanly and the veiled students. Under the terms of the
agreement, the students are permitted to wear the hijab
during Ramazan, but they will give stop wearing the veil
after Ramazan. We believe this episode is largely a matter
of an overzealous rector, and it does not appear linked to
any broader GOAJ "campaign" against the hijab. (There is no
legal prohibition against the hijab in educational
institutions in Azerbaijan. The only GOAJ prohibition is
that the hijab must not be worn in photographs on official
identity documents, but religiously observant women report
that it is nearly impossible for veiled women to obtain
government jobs.)


4. (C) In August, the State Committee for Work with
Religious Associations (SCWRA) temporarily closed 19 official
madrassas. Local religious affairs journalist Kenan Guliyev
-- a devout Shia with links to local Shia communities and a
recent IVP participant -- told us the SCWRA closed the
madrassas in order to review their curriculum. Guliyev
suspected that some of the 19 would not be reopened. As an
aside, Guliyev observed that there are approximately 200
unofficial madrassas paralleling the recently closed 19
madrassas. During a October 9 iftar hosted by the Ambassador
for religious contacts, we heard that the 19 official
madrassas remain closed as the SCWRA is continuing to
evaluate their curriculum.


5. (C) Comment: The suspension of the two television
programs and the examination of the madrassa's curriculum
demonstrates the GOAJ's instinct for seeking to monopolize
religious discussion and education. In our view, elements in
the GOAJ maintain a Soviet worldview that perceives religion
as a dangerous genie to be contained (reftel). In
particular, these elements are inherently uncomfortable with
unregulated religious discussion. Local contacts speculated
that timing of these recent crackdowns may be linked to
recent events in Turkey and the GOAJ's discomfort with the
Justice and Development Party,s (AKP) growing strength in a
state previously viewed by the GOAJ as a model of secular
Islam.

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