The editorial board of «Voice of Islam» offers its readers an exclusive interview with Ahad Mamedli, the deputy chairman of the Ag Party of Azerbaijan (White Party), who kindly agreed to answer our questions. We have decided to introduce to our readers the ideological framework of the party, based on the ideas of Necmettin Erbakan, adapted to the realities of Azerbaijan and Russian-speaking Muslims, among whom there are many Azerbaijanis and other Turkic peoples.
Assalamu alaikum, tell our readers briefly about yourself and the party you lead. How would you characterize its ideology and long-term political goals?
Wa alaykumu as-salam, My name is Ahad Mamedli. I am the first deputy leader of the Ag Party (White Party) and also the chairman of the Analytical Center for «Civilizations and Conflicts». I am a party official and a political scientist. I have been involved in professional politics since 2001, at the age of 18. I have been involved in politics since I was a student. I was a political prisoner. In 2011, the internationally recognized organization «Amnesty International» declared me a prisoner of conscience. In 2016, my colleagues and I founded the Ag Party. The ideology of the Ag Party is the «National Vision», which originated in Turkey. It was created by the leader of the Refah and Saadet parties, the former Prime Minister of Turkey, the late Necmettin Erbakan. At the beginning of the 21st century, the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took the baton from him and created the AK Party (Justice and Development Party). In Azerbaijan, the Ag Party became the successor of the «National Vision,» with Turan Abbasli, another former political prisoner and prisoner of conscience, as its leader (pictured below — Voice of Islam). Our main goal is to spread the ideology of the «National Vision» throughout the Turkic-Muslim world and make it the guiding ideology in other Turkic countries.
How do you assess the political situation in Azerbaijan and its current state? What are your relations with the existing authorities and opposition in Azerbaijan and what do they represent in your opinion?
I assess the political situation in Azerbaijan as a soft authoritarian regime. At the moment Azerbaijan is on the verge of possible reforms. The Ag Party is in opposition to the current government. Unlike most other opposition parties in Azerbaijan, the Ag Party is not pro-Western, pro-Iranian or pro-Russian. The Ag Party is a national force that relies solely on its own people. The Ag Party is neither radical nor moderate; it is a healthy opposition party. Our top priority is national interests, not the interests of other countries. Unlike some opposition parties, the Ag Party has never had secret relationships, separate agreements with the current government, or clans and factions within the government. The Ag Party lives up to its name as the whitest, purest and most honest party in Azerbaijan. The relationship between the Ag Party and the current government is as it should be between a real opposition and the government. We raise all urgent issues, criticize the government courageously, but our criticism is based on healthy competition and national interests. The Ag Party does not receive instructions or money in the form of grants from abroad. The Ag Party is not against the government; it is in favor of healthy competition between the opposition and the government. In Azerbaijan, both the ruling party and other opposition parties adhere to the same ideological and life values. They just have different leaders. Therefore, the question arises — if they have the same ideology, why don’t they unite? Because both the ruling party and the absolute majority of the opposition parties do not rely on ideology but on their leaders. Unlike them, the Ag Party is based on an ideology which is an alternative to the ideologies of the existing political parties in Azerbaijan. Relations between the Ag Party and the majority of opposition parties in Azerbaijan are good — we are members of various alliances and unions together. At present, the Ag Party leads two major political movements in Azerbaijan — the Karabakh Committee and the Azerbaijan National Movement.
How would you characterize the role of Islam in Azerbaijani politics and what is the attitude of the main political forces, the government and the opposition towards it? Which parties besides yours openly represent the interests of Islam, Muslims and the Islamic Ummah in the country’s politics? What is your relationship with them?
Islam has always played a role in Azerbaijani politics, but it has never been dominant. Political Islam in Azerbaijan is predominantly pro-Iranian, although the majority of Azerbaijanis are Shiites, there is a very negative attitude towards pro-Iranian political Islam among the country’s leadership, the majority of the opposition and the people. Azerbaijanis are a conservative but secular people. In Azerbaijan there is the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, which was banned during the rule of Heydar Aliyev. Most of the leaders of this party are currently in prison. When Turan Abbasli and I were in prison, we met the leaders of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan. This party is considered a pro-Iranian force in political circles and is based on Shiite groups. As for the leadership of our party, it includes both Sunnis and Shiites, as well as representatives of other ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan, such as Lezgins and Tats, in addition to Turkmen. They are all united by the conservative-secular «National Vision» platform. Their party positions itself as the Azerbaijani supporter of neo-Ottomanism.
Since Turkey has a very good relationship with the existing Azerbaijani government, which has different ideological positions, i.e. not democracy based on Islamic principles, but secular authoritarianism, what is your relationship with the Turkish AK Party? Do they not see you as an obstacle to the existing positive relations between the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan and as a factor of tension between them?
Ideologically, the Azerbaijani Ag Party and the Turkish AK Party are close political forces. Azerbaijan and Turkey are one nation and two states. If we add the Turkic republics of Central Asia and the Turkic republics within the Russian Federation, they are all different states of one nation. No matter who is in power in Turkey and Azerbaijan, the relationship between the two brotherly countries will always be at the highest level. Turkey and Azerbaijan are two Turkic states and that’s what makes the difference. No matter who is in power in Turkey and Azerbaijan, no one can prevent or hinder this blood historical fact. The relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are first of all between the peoples and then between the governments of these countries. As for the relationship between the Ag Party and the AK Party, it is the same as the friendship between the governments of our countries. No more and no less. So there is no need to worry. On the contrary, such a national force as the Ag Party is necessary for the people and state of Azerbaijan. Therefore, I do not think that the Ag Party is an obstacle to the existing good relations between the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan. The Ag Party is interested in excellent relations between the two brotherly states. They position themselves as Azerbaijani supporters of neo-Ottomanism.
However, a significant part of Azerbaijan’s population and society consists of either radically secular circles sympathetic to the Kemalist model of Turkey, or Shiites, some of whom have sympathies for Khomeinism. In this situation, how relevant can neo-Ottomanism be in Azerbaijani society, which has a predominantly Sunni population and the traditions of a Sunni state?
The Ag Party positions itself ideologically as a mixture of Iranian Great Turkism — Nader Shah Afshar — and neo-Ottomanism. The symbol of the Ag Party combines the state attributes of the Nader Shah Afshar state and the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the Ag Party creates a bridge of unity between Sunni and Shiite Turks. Iran has been a Turkish empire for centuries. Currently, there are 40 million Turkic Azerbaijanis living in Iran. The majority of the population in Iran is not Persian but Turkic. Nader Shah Afshar was the greatest Turkic emperor of Iran. He was crowned in the city of Salyan near the Kura River (modern Azerbaijan). Nader Shah was an Azerbaijani Turk. He became the Shah of Iran on the condition that the Shiite clergy would no longer speak ill of the righteous caliphs Abu Bakr, Omar, and Osman. In a letter to the caliph of all Muslims, the Ottoman Sultan, Nader Shah called himself the «Lord of the Turkmen. He created a Shiite branch of Jafari jurisprudence, brought it closer to Sunnism, and asked the Ottoman caliph to accept Jafari as the fifth correct school of Islam after Hanafism, Shafiism, Hanbalism, and the Maliki school, thus finally ending the strife between Sunnis and Shiites and uniting the Islamic world. Nader Shah Afshar was called the Eastern Napoleon by the Europeans. The borders of the Turkic-Iranian state of the Afshars extended from the territory of modern Rostov-on-Don in the north to India in the south. The enemies of the unification of the Turkic-Ottoman and Turkic-Iranian empires killed the Azerbaijani emperor Nader Shah Afshar. If Nader Shah Afshar had lived for another 10 years, the Caucasus would never have become infidel. As you can see, the Ag Party is a synthesis, a peace between the Safavids-Afshars and the Ottomans, a unification of the Sunni-Shiite Turkic world. Therefore, we are confident that it is the Ag Party that can unite the diverse Azerbaijani society under the banner of a single Turkic-Islamic identity. That is why we believe that conservative Azerbaijanis need precisely the conservatism that is formulated in the manifesto of the Ag Party. The demand for this ideology is growing every day.
How do you see the way to the triumph of your ideas in Azerbaijan, and how do you see its place in the world and its relations with the key states of the region and the world in this case?
We see the triumph of our ideas first of all in the support of the Azerbaijani people. We believe that the leader in Azerbaijan who knows his people, from the worker to the academic, who has faith, confidence and courage, will receive the support of the people. By the way, the motto of the Ag Party is: «Faith, confidence and courage. There’s enough for everything. The leader of the Ag Party, Turan Abbasli, has combined all these qualities throughout his life and demonstrated them to the people around him. Based on everything I have said, we believe in the triumph of our ideas not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the whole Turkic-Muslim world. Just as there are Christian Democratic, Social Democratic, Liberal Democratic and Communist parties in many European countries and beyond, there are political associations such as the Muslim Brotherhood (banned in the Russian Federation), the Baath Party in Arab countries, why can’t the Turkic-Muslim world have its own common political movement? We consider the «National Vision» presented by the AK and Ag parties as this common political movement. It is our wish and goal to spread these ideas throughout the Turkic world. Relations with brotherly Turkey should be a priority for Azerbaijan. The question of unification of Turkey and Azerbaijan into one state was raised by Turgut Ozal and Abulfaz Elchibey. This idea is still relevant in our countries. The Ag Party supports the unification of Azerbaijan and Turkey on equal terms. It would be the first real step towards the Great Turan. Following the example of the European Union, we see a good prospect for the future creation of the Turkic Union, without borders, without visas, with a single currency among all currently independent Turkic republics and, in the near future, for newly established Turkic states. We would also like to see our Muslim brothers from the North Caucasus in such a union, as the mountaineers are the closest people to the Turks. By the way, the doors of this union could also be open to the Christian Cossacks. We see Iran as an extension of the Turkic space — Southern Turkic. We need a united, strong Iran, like in the good Turkish times. The same goes for Central Asia, Tartarstan, Bashkurdistan, Siberia, Altai, and East Turkestan, which we see as part of this space. As for Russia, we see its future in Islam. Only in this case can Russia stand on its feet, as it was once built on the ruins of the Turkic Kyzyl Orda Empire. At the same time, we see Ukraine as a friendly country. Ukraine is the largest Eastern European country and a future leader of the Orthodox-Slavic world. The Turkic and Slavic peoples are the closest to each other. We share a common history, and Ukraine could serve as a bridge between the Slavic and Turkic worlds. China, on the other hand, is in our view the greatest threat to the future world, and Muslims, Christians and Jews could unite against it. By the way, regarding the latter, we distinguish between the Jewish people, who, according to the results of surveys among the Jewish diaspora, feel safer in Azerbaijan than anywhere else, and the xenophobic Nazi-anti-Islamic policy of Israel.
What would you like to say to the Muslims of the former Soviet Union who read our website?
On a personal level, I wish the Muslim brothers and sisters of the former Soviet Union happiness, health and prosperity. For the Ummah, I pray that they become the strongest, most educated, and wealthiest. Amen! I would like to thank your website for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself, my party, my world view and share it with you, dear readers! I wish «Voice of Islam» to make a significant contribution to the unification of our entire common, beloved Ummah! Interviewed by Ikramutdin Khan