Azerbaijani president: National, religious minorities have never faced, will never face discrimination in Azerbaijan

“Azerbaijan is an independent state and will further do its best to maintain the best traditions in our country,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at opening ceremony of the Tezepir mosque after major overhaul in Baku.
 
“Religion is separated from the state in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a secular state. But at the same time we are very committed to our national and religious traditions and values. We share common values. But the main value for us are the national values of Azerbaijan,” the president said.


“At all times, all people in Azerbaijan lived in harmony. Azerbaijan state, the independent Azerbaijani state and will continue to do everything possible to maintain this wonderful tradition in our country. I would also like to say that while religion in Azerbaijan is separated from the state, however, the state has allocated funds for the overhaul of the Tezepir mosque,” President Aliyev said.

“Islam is a great religion. It is a religion of friendship, brotherhood, solidarity. Unfortunately, sometimes false information about Islam is deliberately spread in som places and islamophobia has become a policy. Today, much has been said about inter-religious dialogue. There is a great need for this. However, in some cases, these words are overlooked by trends of religious discrimination. We reject this. We reject the campaign against Islam.”

As to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the President said 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s historical lands have been occupied.

“One million of our citizens who suffer from policy of ethnic cleansing live as refugees and displaced persons. Armenian armed forces have destroyed everything in the occupied lands. All buildings, homes, schools, hospitals and mosques have been destroyed. This must stop and the conflict can be resolved only through international law. These rules are known to all. The first international peace organization -  the United Nations and its Security Council has adopted 4 resolutions on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani lands. Unfortunately, Armenia ignores them. The OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Conference and other influential international organizations take a fair stance on the issue. It is that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored, all the occupying forces must withdraw from our land then peace agreement must be signed,” he said.

“I am absolutely convinced that if the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is resolved in near future, we can see a positive impact on the entire Caucasus. I want to say one again that Caucasus is a single organism. Azerbaijan is both Caspian and Caucasus state. Russia is also Caspian and Caucasus state. We have guests from Russia. They are well aware that a very important agreement was recently signed between Russia and Azerbaijan. The development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations has played and will play vital role in ensuring peace and security in the entire Caucasus. Our relations with other neighbors are also based on mutual respect, principles of non-interference in each other's affairs and mutual trust. Inter-state relations should continue only in this framework in future,” President Aliyev said.

/Day.az/