US should force Baku to stop religious oppression, support for jihadist terrorism, and sanctions violations, says Michael Rubin

Azerbaijan, the ostensibly pro-Western and secular dictatorship in the Caucasus, likes to depict itself as a bastion of religious tolerance, a bulwark against Islamist terrorism, and an ally in the West’s efforts to free itself from energy dependence on hostile powers, Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in an article published in the Washington Examiner.

As noted, Baku’s cynicism toward its Jewish and Christian populations is well-established. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s dynastic dictator, is equally deceptive in his opposition to jihadism. Following the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev arrested the region’s democratically elected, ethnic Armenian leaders on false terrorism charges. Azerbaijan’s Armenian hostages include philanthropist and former state minister Ruben Vardanyan and former foreign minister David Babayan, a 52-year-old academic and author of several books. Aliyev’s show trials harken back to the Soviet era; outside his domestic audience, they have no resonance.

Rubin notes that Turkey recruited up to 2,000 Syrian jihadists to fight a religious war against Christians. He states that during the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan would pay a bonus for every severed head the Syrian mercenaries provided.

As noted, Azerbaijan also undermines U.S. sanctions on Russia.

Less than a week before the start of war in Ukraine, Russia’s Lukoil purchased a nearly 10% stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas project from Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, a deal that made Lukoil a partner of the Azerbaijani state-owned oil firm SOCAR.

While Azerbaijan sells itself as a means to bypass Iranian and Russian gas, Baku’s math does not add up, as the gas it produces is less than that it pipes to Europe, meaning it serves as a conduit to launder Iranian and Russian gas.

“The White House and State Department must start calibrating policy to reality rather than rhetoric. Forcing Baku to stop supporting religious repression, jihadi terrorism, and sanctions busting would be a good place to start,” Rubin writes.