Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education

respect and cooperation, religious freedom and the equality of

279

Azerbaijani Multiculturalism

all religions before the law and state assistance to all religious groups has led to inter-religious relations in Azerbaijan based on mutual respect and cooperation. It should be noted that the financial and moral support rendered to various religious groups and contributions to the building and renovation of prayer houses is a progressive tradition arising from the historical past. For example, at the end of the 19th century the Muslim population of Baku made most of the donations to the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Church (known as the Golden Church) in the city. Foreign Jewish organizations, the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus and the Baku and Azerbaijani Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church closely contributed to the erection of new synagogues for the European and Mountain Jews. Moreover, representatives of the religious communities in Azerbaijan take part in various events held by different religions. Interreligious relations have been built on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation in Azerbaijan, which helps to prevent the religious separatism observed elsewhere and to strengthen integration in society. Pointing out that religious relations are at a very high level, President Ilham Aliyev said:

‘All peoples, confessions and religions live and will continue to live as one family in Azerbaijan. There has never been and will never be any conflict on religious grounds in the country. There is not even any misunderstanding, nor will there ever be. This is the road we have taken and we are showing this road to the world.’

Another significant feature of multiculturalism as an integral part of the domestic policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the protection of the ethnocultural values of the various ethnic groups and peoples residing in the country.

280

Historically, Azerbaijan has been a multicultural state. National minorities residing in its territory were not persecuted or discriminated against because of their ethnocultural values, religion and race. At present over 60 national minorities live in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other normative-legal acts protect the rights and liberties of the national minorities living in the Republic of Azerbaijan: for example, Article 21, Para. 2 of the Constitution (On the official language); Article 25, Para. 3 (On the right to equality); Article 44, Paras. 1 and 2 (On the right to national identity; Article 45, Paras. 1 and 2 (On the right to use one’s mother tongue); Article 47, Paras. 1,2 and 3 (On freedom of thought and expression); Article 48, Paras. 1 and 2 (On freedom of conscience); Article 127, Para. 10 (On the independence of judges, fundamental principles and prerequisites for the administration of justice). Besides, the Republic of Azerbaijan has joined a number of international conventions on the protection of national minorities; for example, the framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed by the Azerbaijani government on 1 February 1995, and ratified by the law dated 16 June 2000. The Republic of Azerbaijan joined the UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions under a law dated 26 November 2009, which came into force on 15 May 2010.

Under a number of instructions signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, substantial socio-­economic, educational, cultural, health care, ecological and other projects are being carried out in the regions with substantial national minority populations.

At present some 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national cultural centres, social and public associations and societies tackle various issues in the country, including the protection of the ethnocultural values of ethnic minorities. These

Section II

Chapter 5

281

Azerbaijani Multiculturalism

282

entities and other NGOs in the country are able to apply for financial support for their projects to the Council for State Support attached to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In addition, financial support is given to publications in the languages of the minorities by the State Fund to Support Mass Media attached to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

At present over 15 newspapers and magazines are published in the languages of the ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani radio regularly broadcasts programmes in Kurdish, Lezghi, Talysh, Georgian, Russian and Armenian funded from the state budget. Five local television channels broadcast in the ethnic minority areas, while the following newspapers and magazines are published in the ethnic minority languages: Samur and Qusar newspapers in Azerbaijani and Lezghi, Chiraq and Alam magazines in Lezghi; Tolyshi sado and Tolyshon sado in Talysh and the magazine Soz in Azerbaijani and Talysh; the newspaper Khinaliq in the language of Khinaliq in Quba District; a page in Georgian in Shalala newspaper, published in Qakh; and the newspaper Birlik and magazine Qudyal of the Jews living in Qirmizi Qasaba (Krasnaya Sloboda) in Quba District. The various cultural centres and communities have their own publications: the Ronayi Kurdish Centre publishes Dange kurd; the Russian community in Azerbaijan publishes Vestnik and Oko and the Sodruzhestvo society publishes Sodruzhestvo; the Azerbaijani-Bulgarian friendship association publishes Akkord; while the Ukrainian community in Azerbaijan publishes Visnik.

There are over 300 secondary schools where the medium of teaching is Russian. The public and private universities have departments where teaching is in Russian. In addition, there are 108 secondary schools (first to ninth grades) where education is in Lezghi and 225 primary schools (first to fourth grades) where education is in Talysh.

Foreign visitors to the country emphasize Azerbaijan’s achievements in the sphere of multiculturalism. They have written about their impressions of Azerbaijan for various foreign publications, highlighting the country’s favourable environment for multiculturalism and tolerance. For example, Rabbi David Wolpe led a 50- member delegation from Sinai Temple in California, USA to Azerbaijan as part of a project called ‘Journey to Azerbaijani Multiculturalism’ organized by the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre. He wrote about the environment of multiculturalism and tolerance in Azerbaijan in an article entitled ‘Azerbaijan is an Oasis of Tolerance in the Middle East’, which was published in Time magazine (30 October to 4 November 2016):

‘At a meeting the week before in Jerusalem, an Israeli diplomat said to our group: “I would hesitate to walk down the street in Sweden with a kippah, but not in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan no one will give you a hard time.” I can attest to the accuracy of that statement. For nearly a week I wandered the streets with a kippah and was met with nothing but courtesy and kindness. This is an extraordinary accomplishment and too little known in the world. Azerbaijan is a country with a long and proud history of acceptance of other religious traditions.’

Another visitor, Yael Lerman Mazar, wrote an article entitled ‘How Azerbaijan Restored my Hope in Israel’ published in The Jerusalem Post:

‘We arrived in Azerbaijan knowing nothing about this ancient people and new nation-state. We left a week later in love with this proud country, its generous government, and its beautiful people. We left filled with a renewed hope that coexistence between Muslims and Jews can be genuine, deep-rooted and all-encompassing. Upon arrival, we learned some basic facts about Azerbaijan that seemingly do not exist in this combination anywhere else. First, it is

Section II

Chapter 5

283

Azerbaijani Multiculturalism

284

a Muslim, democratic nation. Second, there has never been a pogrom in Azerbaijan. There is simply no anti-Semitism. This is not just a function of no incitement to violence by clerics. The people are proud of their pluralism and ethnic communities.’

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has taken a number of important measures to strengthen the multicultural environment in country. He signed an instruction on 28 February 2014 to set up a state advisory service on international, multicultural and religious affairs, an instruction on 7 May 2014 to set up the Knowledge Foundation attached to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and another instruction on 15 May 2014 to set up the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre. A presidential instruction of 11 January 2016 made 2016 the Year of Multiculturalism in Azerbaijan, while an instruction on 11 March 2016 confirmed the Action Plan for the Year of Multiculturalism. Chapter II, Section 4 considers in more detail how each of these institutions and decrees has helped the success of the policy of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan.

As an integral part of domestic policy multiculturalism creates the right conditions for the management of ethnic, racial, religious and cultural diversity within the country and the protection of the values that form the basis of this diversity. This conforms to the norms and principles of democratic society. The protection of ethnocultural values is, therefore, an integral part of human rights. Some Western countries do not wish to acknowledge Azerbaijan’s achievements in the sphere of multiculturalism and apply double standards to it. As Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev wrote in his article ‘On the sources of the degradation of European structures or the policy of double standards towards Azerbaijan’: ‘It would be no bad thing if they adopted Azerbaijan’s experience of tolerance and multiculturalism, which has taken shape down the centuries.’

To sum up, the very high level of relations between state and religion, the protection of the ethnocultural values of the different peoples and ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan and their integration into society as a result show that multiculturalism is an integral part of the domestic policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and exerts considerable influence upon it. As an integral part of domestic policy, multiculturalism manages ethnocultural diversity and deepens the integration process in society. The deepening integration process also prevents conflicts that might occur on ethnic and religious grounds.