For centuries, this country in southwest Asia (with a small portion in Europe) has been dominated by its neighbours. In 1922 is became part of the USSR until breaking away in 1991.

In 1993 the elected government was overthrown and the former first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party, Geydar Aliyev was installed in his place by the military.  In October 2003, Geydar Aliyev’s son, Ilham, was elected president amidst protests of fraud in the political process. While the younger Aliyev had promised a move toward more democratic freedoms, many NGO’s have not observed this to be the case. In fact, Freedom House downgraded Azerbaijan from a status of “partly free” to “not free.” Political unrest continues to be a very real element of society, particularly as elections approach in November 2005.

The Christian population is almost entirely ethnic Armenian and Russian.  The ethnic Azeri people are predominantly Muslim, resulting in elements of racial discrimination affecting religious freedoms. While church registration is not required under Azerbaijani law, several incidences have been reported of churches being ordered closed or destroyed for not registering.

Churches across Azerbaijan live under the threat of harassment by legal authorities. In November, 2004, a Seventh Day Adventist Church was raided by police. Two men were detained for several hours and children were interrogated against their parents' wishes, being asked by police if they were forced to attend services. Ironically, this incident occurred at the same time as a delegation from the Council of Europe was visiting Azerbaijan to examine the country's human rights commitments. In April, 2005, a young man was detained and beaten when he refused active military service due to his religious convictions. His punishment was intensified when he shared his faith with other soldiers and it was discovered that he had several Christian calendars in his possession. He has been transferred to and remains in an undisclosed location.

Expatriate Christians are forbidden to engage in religious propaganda and there are severe restrictions on distribution of literature for "nontraditional" religious groups. All religious literature must be approved by the government for content and the number to be distributed. Approval is rarely granted and thousands of religious books have been destroyed. Only Islam, Russian Orthodoxy and Judaism are considered "traditional" religions and there has been a push by the government and state-controlled media for the Azeri people to return to their "ancestral faith," Islam.

• Pray for churches facing government pressure, that they will stand firm in their ministry.
• Pray that there will be opportunities for the churches to reach out to the ethnic Azeri people with the Gospel.
• Pray that opposition from the government and media will cease and that Christians will be free to worship without fear.