Azerbaijan defies stereotypes: Official tells NPS, MIIS of Caspian Sea democracy

The country is a staunch U.S. ally whose soldiers have fought shoulder to shoulder with American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, a 91-year-old democracy that extends equal rights to women and freedom of religion to all.

And it's a predominantly Muslim country, said Elin Suleymanov, consul general of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles.

Azerbaijan, which lies on the west shore of the Caspian Sea and shares borders with Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Iran, is a good example of why people shouldn't make generalizations about the Middle East or Muslim countries, Suleymanov said.

He was in Monterey on Monday and Tuesday to talk to students of the Naval Postgraduate School and Monterey Institute of International Studies, urging those who are specializing in the region to keep in mind the complexities, subtleties and nuances of its cultures.

Azerbaijan celebrates May 28 as its Independence Day, when the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was founded in 1918 — the first democratic parliamentary government in the Muslim world, Suleymanov said. But 23 months later, it became part of the Soviet Union when the Red Army invaded in April 1920.

Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991 but was soon embroiled in a war over territory with Armenia, which is still a source of friction between the two countries.

Pragmatism might be the core national virtue of Azerbaijan.

Suleymanov said his country's policy is to promote "sustainable independence and stability" by
Advertisement avoiding overdependence on allies and confrontations with its neighbors.

"What defines Azerbaijan as a nation," he said, "is a staunch policy of independence and sustainable sovereignty."

Nationality is not based on ethnicity, as it is in Armenia, he said, nor is citizenship restricted by religion. Azerbaijan includes Orthodox Christian and Jewish populations.

That policy has paid off in the willingness of other countries to deal with Azerbaijan in export contracts for its gas and oil, Suleymanov said, and operation of its pipeline that feeds into an open port in the Mediterranean. The pipeline supplies, among other customers, 25 percent of Israel's gas and oil.

He said Azerbaijan is "a keystone nation" straddling Europe and Asia that would like to extend its values of stability and reasonable diplomacy to its neighbors.

The lesson of South Ossetia seceding from Georgia with the backing of the Russian Army was not lost on Azerbaijan, he said. Pushing for drastic diplomatic or military solutions is damaging to the region and leaves instability in its wake.

"I don't believe in the clash of civilizations," Suleymanov said. "Azerbaijan defies definitions. We make our decisions based on our own long-term interests."

/Monterey Herald/