Armenia/Azerbaijan: A nationalistic, not religious war

A report by the Catholic News Agency (CNA) on 13 October 2020 argues that religion is a central factor to the conflict between the two former Soviet Union countries, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is a break-away region of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan and has a majority Christian (Armenian Orthodox) population. The CNA argues that "a further religious factor in the conflict is the neutrality of Russia [selling arms to both sides of the conflict] and the involvement of Turkey in support of Azerbaijan". Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "Although at a superficial glance this looks like a battle between Muslims and Christians - especially when churches get damaged (as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on 9 October 2020) - , it should be quite clear that the conflict is not a religious war, but a political one. Azerbaijan is pushing to regain control over a break-away region that has been outside its sovereignty for three decades. Both sides of the conflict are using the religious element for nationalistic reasons. For Azerbaijan, this means they get full support from countries like Turkey and from experienced fighters affiliated to the Islamic State group (IS). Naturally, this is disturbing for Armenian Christians who cannot help recalling the ethnic cleansing carried out in history by Turkish forces in the last century and by IS forces in this."