WHY IS ALTERNATIVE ISLAM GAINING STRENGTH IN AZERBAIJAN?
With the eclipse of the political opposition in Azerbaijan, Islam is increasingly poised to fill the ideological vacuum. Most government officials, however, deny that the increased interest in Islam poses a serious threat to either political stability or national security. Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, many Azerbaijanis rejected communist ideology in the wake of the reprisals in Baku in January 1990 by Soviet troops that left at least 130 people dead. But the pro-Turkish Azerbaijan Popular Front that took power in May 1992 failed to impose order on political chaos or reverse economic decline, and many people sighed with relief when a failed insurrection in June 1993 ended with the self exile of President Abulfaz Elchibey and the return to power of former Communist Party of Azerbaijan First Secretary Heidar Aliyev. Aliyev restored order, signed a string of contracts with international oil companies, muzzled the media, and suppressed or co-opted the oppos
