Azerbaijan and 'Tolerant Muslims'

A great majority of the Azerbaijanis with whom I spoke over the course of the twenty-two months of ethnographic research1 I conducted in Azerbaijan perceived themselves to be, and publicly presented themselves as, religiously tolerant individuals, or 'tolerant Muslims'. In this article, I suggest that there are two main reasons motivating Azerbaijanis to publicly express a religiously tolerant position. One is Azerbaijanis’ understanding of their country as a place that has, historically, been home to, and tolerant of, many different religious traditions. Another-and, I believe, a more important reason-is Azerbaijan’s proximity to Iran. Azerbaijanis know that Iran is perceived by many Western countries, whose recognition and respect they seek, to be a 'fundamentalist' Muslim society-in other words, not committed to religious tolerance-and, thus, undesirable as a political ally and an economic partner. This knowledge is motivating Azerbaijanis to pursue a number of different strategies that are intended to help them project an image of themselves as 'tolerant Muslims' so that they can position themselves to enter into political alliances and economic partnerships with Western powers and, in so doing, gain recognition and respect on the international stage.