POLITICS
Top Presidential Administration official: No religious belief, no religious worship, no activity should take the form of intervention in the secular norms of the Azerbaijani state
Baku, April 17 (AZERTAC). “No religious belief, no religious worship, no activity should take the form of intervention in the secular norms of the Azerbaijani state. Anyway, interference in secular norms creates legal liability, and, of course, appropriate measures are taken to prevent such phenomena,” head of the Socio-Political Affairs Department at Azerbaijan`s Presidential Administration, chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party`s interparliamentary ties and dialogue commission Ali Hasanov told journalists.
Speaking about the activities of religious sects in the country, Hasanov said apart from "Nurculuk" and "Wahhabism" there were also other trends, and they're trying to step up their activities.
“Such phenomena exist not only in Azerbaijan, but in the whole South Caucasus region, the former Soviet Union and in the world as a whole. Today in the world there are those who try to influence the thinking and activities of people in non-traditional ways, outside the laws adopted by states. There are forces that are trying to sow discord by religious intervention, missionary, to divide people into sects. They exist in Azerbaijan too. Relevant state agencies of our countries carry out necessary work to tackle such cases.”
Noting that today these forces do not pose a serious threat to the state of Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov said "if they were a serious threat, they would have stood face to face with the laws of the state and the guardians of the law, but in general, the Azerbaijani society should know that such attempts and such phenomena will be prevented by the state".