Paper abstract:

This presentation will focus on the Azerbaijani-Armenian relations in Georgia regarding the role of religion and religious networks in the context of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Georgia was not directly involved in the 2020 war, but its geopolitical position and presence of Azerbaijani and Armenian minorities made the country vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict. Both during the war and after the ceasefire agreement was signed, religion and religious leaders played a considerable role. Brubaker calls religion a “key diacritical marker” which separates Armenians and Azerbaijanis (Brubaker 2013 cited within Tonoyan 2018). Some Armenians tend to present the war as a conflict not only between two states but also between Christianity and Islam relating it to the massacres of Armenians that took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Ottoman Empire. This position is legitimized by Catholicos Karekin II, as a defense in the face of rising political Islam (Yemelianova 2017). Turkey’s active support for Azerbaijan during the 2020 war fueled the atmosphere regarding the role of religion in the conflict. Controversies over the role of Turkey were also discussed by Sunni and Shiite religious leaders in Georgia as the latter questioned the Turkish involvement in the Azerbaijani internal affairs. Besides, there were various initiatives regarding humanitarian aid i.e.: the Armenian church with a help of the Javakhk NGO organized collections of funds and goods for soldiers fighting on the front line, and later for refugees. The religious symbols were displayed at the pro-war demonstrations organized by both parties in Georgia, and religion was significant in a certain moral, political, and ethical context, as well as in the specific conditions of Georgia. There was also an attempt of promoting interfaith dialogue such as the inter-confessional collective prayers for peace in Karabakh held every Saturday in one of the churches in Tbilisi during the 2020 war.

This presentation will be based on field research conducted during the 2020 Karabakh war in Georgia and between 03-09 2022.

Yemelianova, G. (2017),” The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Context of Muslim-Christian Relations”, Islamic Solidarity, Caucasus International, 7.2.

Tonoyan, A. (2018) “Armenia-Azerbaijan: Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict”, [In] Religion, conflict, and stability in the former Soviet Union Migacheva, K., Frederick, B. eds. the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif.