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Religious Relationships Between Turkey and Azerbaijan 
77 
 
RELİGİOUS RELATİONSHİPS BETWEEN  
TURKEY AND AZERBAİJAN 
 
By Namig Abuzarov Ph.D 
Baku State University 
 
 
Key words: Azerbaijan, Turkey, Theology, and Religion 
Açar sözlər: Azərbaycan, Türkiyə, Teologiya və Din 
Ключевые слова: Религия; Теология; Ислам. 
 
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan regained its independence. 
Throughout the seventy years of colonialism, the Soviet atheist ideology was imposed 
on Azerbaijani Muslim people through education and other means. Although the Soviet 
atheist ideology succeeded to a limited extent, the majority of Azerbaijani people 
managed to preserve their Muslim identity, at least at a cultural level. This encouraged 
the neighbouring countries like Turkey, Iran and some Arab-speaking countries to take 
part in shaping Islam in Azerbaijan since 1991.  
Despite the fact that nearly 99% of Azerbaijani people are Muslim, the Republic 
of Azerbaijan is constitutionally secular.
  1
 So, it is equidistant from all religious 
divisions regardless of their origin. The constitution of the republic of Azerbaijan 
ensures the liberty of worship to everyone. Under the article 48 of the constitution 
(freedom of conscience) everyone has the right to choose or “define his/her attitude 
to religion, to profess, individually or together with others, any religion or to profess 
no religion, to express and spread one's beliefs concerning religion.” 
According to 
paragraphs 1-3 of article 18 of the constitution,
 religion in the Azerbaijan Republic 
is separated from state and all religions are equal before the law.
2
 
Turkey, likewise, is constitutionally secular and is committed to adopt western 
values, like democracy, human rights etc. Moreover, Turkey has at least 85 years of 
experience in enabling the religion (Islam) to coexist with secularism. This sets a 
                                                 
1
 According to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, 99.2% of the Azerbaijani population is at 
least nominally Muslim. (Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/files/2009/10/ 
Muslimpopulation.pdf) 
2
 http://azerbaijan.az/portal/General/Constitution/doc/constitution_e.pdf 

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 Namig Abuzarov    
78 
precedent for Muslim-majority countries like Azerbaijan, which strive to remain 
secular but at the same time preserve its historical traditions and values, including its 
Muslim identity. Externally, Turkey shares its experience and extends its influence 
via official government agency on religious affairs and through the activities of 
Turkish social religious movements. Both of these channels are the main focus of 
this investigation. Hence, the influence of the Turkish governmental and social 
movements in shaping Islam in Azerbaijan takes several shapes and it requires 
multifaceted approach.  
Before everything else, it is needed to note that, the religious relationship between 
Azerbaijan and Turkey possesses unique characteristic that sets it apart from the 
relationships with other neighboring countries. There are some many factors in its 
uniqueness. Firstly, both countries share the same ethnic root that plays central role in 
their realtionships. Common ethnicity and language among those factors that link 
together Azerbaijanis and Turkish people regardless of their sectarian background.  
The most ardent representatives of the Shiite Muslims, which constitute a 
majority of Azerbaijan’s Muslim population (65-70%), inhabit the southern regions 
bordering Iran. The Sunnis (30-35%) predominantly live in the northern regions 
neighboring Russia’s Dagestan.
3
 So, Shiite understanding of Islam sets religious 
tone in Azerbaijan. A reference to the Shi’a-Sunni division, however, should not be 
overestimated. Many in Azerbaijan would find it difficult to distinguish between the 
two branches of Islam or even to identify their adherence to one of the branches.
4
  
Nevertheless according to a survey conducted in 2003, 64% of respondents in 
Azerbaijan declared a positive attitude towards Turkey, which appeared to be most 
popular among residents of Baku and western Azerbaijan. The Absheron Peninsula, 
which is inhabited predominantly by Shiite Muslims, was also more pro-Turkish 
than pro-Iranian.
5
 Nearly the same result applies to Turkish people as well. In a 
survey conducted by A&G in Turkey in 2006, 71.4% of respondents believed that 
Azerbaijan is the first country among nine countries that considered as their 
‘friend’.
6
 Above-mentioned relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan trace back to 
                                                 
3
 Bert MIDDEL, (Netherlands) Rapporteur, State and Religion in the Black Sea Region, 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 28 August 2007, p.6. 
4
 Bert MIDDEL, (Netherlands) Rapporteur, ‘State and Religion in the Black Sea Region’, 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 28 August 2007, p.6. 
5
 Jerzy Rohozinski, Azerbaijan and Turkey, CES Report, Part II, Warsaw 2008, p. 9.  
6
 Halk Ab’ye guvenmiyor, Milliyet, 24 October 2006, Retrieved from:  
  http://www.milliyet.com/2006/10/24/siyaset/asiy.html 

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Religious Relationships Between Turkey and Azerbaijan 
79 
the early and mid-1990s and over the course of time it became much stronger by 
cultural, economical and political relations and paved the way for religious relations.  
Turkish religious activities in Azerbaijan are carried out primarily through two 
channels: the governmental and the non-governmental. In both cases, these activities 
tend to be accommodating toward the state and to follow Azerbaijani laws and 
requirements.
7
  
The governmental activities are conducted mainly under the supervision of the 
Turkish Diyanet Foundation. The foundation that helps and supports Presidency of 
Religious Affairs (under the Government of Turkey) in introducing Islam with its 
genuine characteristics and enlightening society about religion, building and 
equipping mosques in needed locations, opening and running medical centers for the 
indigent, delivering the almsgiving (zakat  and  fitrah) made by Muslim citizens to 
the needy according to the rules, and developing social aid and relief services.
8
  
Turkish Diyanet Foundation provides thousands of Turkish and foreign students 
with scholarships and dormitories to attend universities in Turkey and overseas. Since 
the early 90s it has established 9 high schools and 7 faculties of theology in 10 
predominantly Muslim-majority countries including Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Kazakhstan, Romania, Bulgaria, Somalia, Haiti, Pakistan, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
9
  
In 1992 Turkish Diyanet Foundation signed a contract with Ministry of Education 
of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Baku State University to found the Faculty of 
Theology. In accordance with the terms of the contract, Turkish professors were invited 
to the Faculty of Theology to teach Islamic sciences to Azerbaijani students.  
 The former minister of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations 
(SCWRA), Rafig Aliyev signed a contract on March 2003 with the former minister of the 
Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), 
Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz on cooperation in the field of religious education.
10
  
The contract that signed between two countries suggested the following 
obligations viz. 
                                                 
7
 Svante E. Cornell, The Politicization of Islam in Azerbaijan, p. 50. Washington 2006. 
8
 Ömer Turan, (2008) ‘The Turkish Diyanet Foundation’, The Muslim World, vol. 98, no.2, 
p. 370, (28 March 2015) Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com 
9
 These numbers and data are from Türkiye Diyanet Foundation website. (29 March 2015) 
Retrieved from http://www.diyanetvakfi.org.tr/site/icerik/egitim-ogretim-faaliyetleri-1077 
10
 This document is available as a DOC(X) format on the official website of  the State 
Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan. (20 
December 2014) Retrieved from 
http://scwra.gov.az/docs/150/
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