Scholar: Azerbaijan’s cynical approach to Jews is demeaning to all

PanARMENIAN.Net - American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Michael Rubin has penned an article about how Azerbaijan’s cynical approach to the Jews is demeaning to all. According to him, countries that embrace religious freedom seldom need to brag about how good they are to their minorities.

"To hold indigenous Jewish communities on a pedestal, as Turkey and Azerbaijan do, is an obnoxious strategy. Not only does it suggest Jews think singularly and interpret policy through a religious lens rather than through the interests of the country in which they are citizens, but the strategy also carries an implied threat: Religious tolerance will be fleeting if Washington or Jerusalem do not abide by Ankara or Baku’s wishes. It’s the mafioso equivalent of, 'Nice place you’ve got here; it would be a shame if anything happened to it,'," the article published by Washington Examiner says.

Rubin believes of greater concern should be Azerbaijan’s partnership and general submissiveness to an increasingly anti-Semitic Turkey: "Diplomats say the Turkish Foreign Ministry demarches its Azeri counterparts to limit the number of Jews and Israelis at diplomatic functions. Azerbaijan’s recent utilization of Syrian mercenaries [in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh], some of whom previously worked for al Qaeda affiliates or the Islamic State, also undercut the notion of Azeri liberalism. To ally with and fight alongside those who would behead Christians and enslave non-Muslim minorities is hardly a sign that Jews will remain safe in Azerbaijan. Sometimes, lavish spreads in luxury hotels for visiting dignitaries are not enough to obscure reality."

"There is an irony when Azeris accuse Armenians of sympathy toward Hitler when Azeri President Ilham Aliyev appears to harbor a fascination with the German dictator. Just as Hitler defined his enemy as Jews inside Germany, Jews outside Germany, and those who would support the Jews, Aliyev has made similar comments with regard to Armenians," the article says.

"Recent trajectory of Azerbaijan’s leadership not only to embrace rhetoric rooted in the Armenian genocide but also to welcome as a partner a Turkish leader whose obsession lays not with territorial dispute but rather with religious warfare, jihad, and deeply anti-Semitic conspiracies. Simply put, the days of Azerbaijan being an oasis for Jews is now in the past."