Azerbaijani Jewish community calls on Israeli Parliament not to recognise Arme

Three Azerbaijani Jewish community leaders have called on members of the Israeli Parliament not to support the initiative to recognise the Armenian Genocide. The move comes after the Israeli government approved a bill to officially recognise the genocide.

The leaders of three Jewish communities — the Baku Mountain Jewish Community, the Baku Ashkenazi Jewish Community, and the Baku Sephardic Jewish Community — stated that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide could ‘negatively impact the process of establishing peace and stability’.

The pro-government media outlet APA the appeal was signed by Milikh Yevdayev, Aleksandr Sharovsky, and Zamir Isayev.

Noting that the country’s Jewish community has long existed in ‘peace and security, and mutual respect on Azerbaijani soil’, the letter argued that relations between Azerbaijan and Israel ‘are based on the principles of strategic partnership, mutual trust, and friendship’.

They noted ‘with regret’ the Israeli government’s steps to recognise the genocide, referring to it as ‘the events that took place 111 years ago’.

The letter drew attention to the timing of the Israeli efforts, noting they came after the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ‘after many years of tension’.

The Jewish community leaders claimed that sensitive historical events should be researched by historians, not be the subject of political decisions, and argued that ‘politicising this issue’ could spark ‘unnecessary tensions’.

On 28 June, Israel’s government voted to officially recognise the Armenian Genocide after the measure was brought forward by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who said recognising the genocide ‘is both a moral and historical duty’.

The Israeli government’s decision was criticised by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, as well as the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which expressed ‘serious concern’ over the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

On 29 June, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that ‘such steps do not contribute to reconciliation and mutual understanding’, but ‘deepen existing contradictions’ and pose a threat to the establishment of ‘lasting peace and reconciliation in the region’.

OC Media has contacted the Chabad of Baku but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Interviews and statements with the country’s Jewish communities are primarily conducted by Azerbaijani pro-government media, especially when the topic touches on sensitive issues such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Armenian genocide.

The Jewish community in Azerbaijan numbers only a few thousand, far below its peak of 40,000 in Soviet times. As with other places in the former Soviet Union, including other Muslim majority countries such as Uzbekistan, the vast majority of Jews have left in the recent decades. In this regard, Azerbaijan’s remaining Jewish community, estimated to be around 6,000, is not particularly unique, nor is it especially isolated — neighbouring Iran, which is also one of Israel’s archenemies, has a larger Jewish population, roughly around 9,000.

Nonetheless, the Azerbaijani government has also used the presence of its small Jewish community to further its own narrative that it is a bastion of ethno-religious tolerance — as well as a rhetorical tool to bolster its information war against Armenia.