Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Democratic Movement

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, organized religion has slowly regained widespread acceptance; however, the government has been slow to exercise control over the religious sphere. In 2001, President Heydar Aliyev established the State Committee for the Work with Religious Associations of Azerbaijan in order to manage the relations between the state and religious organizations. The committee’s success has been limited as it forced to compete for religious authority with the Supreme Board of Muslims of the South Caucuses. In the years since independence, the Muslim community has grown increasingly vocal, and independent Islamic political organizations often serve as the voice of political opposition in the Azeri government. However, the fear of radical Islam has led Baku to perpetuate the Soviet policy of religious repression, which in turn, has alienated many of the moderate Islamic groups in Azerbaijan.