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The number of Wahhabis in Azerbaijan is growing every day, and the sponsors from the Arabic countries, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have the most active part in the process of spreading Wahhabism in Azerbaijan, states the article published on the website of "The Voice of Russia" radio station.

The article reads that the followers of radical religious teachings have recently taken roots in Azerbaijan and have become a headache for the law enforcement. Radical Islamist movements are often funded from abroad.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have the most active part in the process of spreading Wahhabism in Azerbaijan. They carry out propaganda among the poor under the guise of charitable activities. For example, they offer the local youth free education in their countries. After getting there religious education, the Azerbaijani graduates return home with "non-traditional" views.

Such a network of agents, influence, plus unlimited financial contributions promote spreading radical Islamic movements in Azerbaijan, said the senior scientific associate at the Arabic and Islamic Research Center of the Oriental Studies Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Dolgov.

"Radical Islamists are supported by both Turkey, and, in some respect, by Western powers, which have their own strategic interests. This kind of support affects the enforcement of radical Islam in the region, including Azerbaijan. Here, the ideas of radical Islamism and Wahhabism spread under the motto of establishing an Islamic state, which will supposedly solve all the problems of social, economic and political nature," he said.

"The Voice of Russia" notes that recently various foreign media regularly report about the death of citizens of Azerbaijan, who fight on the side of the Syrian rebels. According to some estimates, more than 300 people from Azerbaijan are fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Reinforcement of radical Islamic groups in Azerbaijan threatens the stability both in the Caucasus and in Central Asia, stated Alexander Krylov, the leading researcher at the World Economy and International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Radical Islam is not just a religion; it plays the role of the political ideology that seeks to change the society in general and to establish a worldwide caliphate. Azerbaijan could become a part of a worldwide caliphate too, so the danger here is obvious; it is the destabilization of the situation according to the Libyan or Syrian script," he said.

According to various estimates, the number of followers of radical Islamic movements in Azerbaijan reaches up to 20,000 people. Conspiring skillfully , they operate under the auspices of various charities and religious movements. They can come out of the shadows and become a real threat at any moment, "The Voice of Russia" writes.

Recall that the relationship between international terrorist groups and Azerbaijan originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation, the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar), Turkey ("Grey Wolves", etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement in of thousands of foreign mercenaries and terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia. However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis, who then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where participated in the battles against the forces of the international coalition and Russian organizations.

In recent years, the citizens of Azerbaijan are actively involved in terrorist and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan and Syria. In Azerbaijan the citizens are brought to criminal liability for participating in "illegal armed groups" in Afghanistan, sentenced to minor terms of imprisonment.