Azerbaijan?

Being away from Azerbaijan for over a week now, I’m able to process things I’m not able to in my life in Azerbaijan. This processing has brought me to reflect on Azerbaijan as a whole, their identity.

In conversations I’ve had with Turkish people and other expats, I find myself seeing and conveying Azerbaijan as a terribly confused state. I’m a bit more sympathetic away from there than I am while living it; that’s for sure.

Think about it. Here’s Azerbaijan. A tiny country off the coast of the Caspian Sea sandwiched between Russia, Iran, and 2 other Christian countries (Russia being the 1st), Armenia and Georgia. There are so many culturally different things about Azerbaijan because of location alone. Add on top of that being post-Soviet and Islamic, engaged in a seemingly never-ending war, and being a country rich in oil and natural gasses… there’s got to be some confusion.

Azerbaijan wants to be more like Turkey, but is still influenced by Soviet mentality and a rising Islamic movement. There are contradictions running rampant.

With all those factors plus everything else going on, I would be confused, too.