POLITICS
Azerbaijani President: It is absolutely unacceptable to link Islam with terrorism
Baku, November 18, AZERTAC
“More than 600 historical and architectural monuments of Azerbaijan were totally destroyed by the Armenian armed forces. Twenty-two museums were destroyed, and 40,000 items, which were exhibited in those museums including the very precious items of our historical heritage, were stolen from our museums and then sold on different auctions. Ten mosques were demolished by Armenian occupants, while today in the center of Baku you can see an Armenian Church restored by the government of Azerbaijan. So this is the difference in approach to multiculturalism. This is the difference in approach to religious tolerance and this again shows that terrorism has no religion, has no nationality and it is absolutely unacceptable to link Islam with terrorism,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Leaders' Forum of the 38th Session of UNESCO General Conference in Paris.
“I represent a Muslim country, a country which suffered from Armenian terrorism, from occupation, from destruction of our historic monuments. Of course, we will return to our lands, we will restore our cities, build new schools and hospitals there.” “But we will not be able to restore our historic monuments. Armenians destroyed our historical heritage. But they cannot destroy our will, the will of refugees and IDPs who want to go back to their homes and the will of their children and grandchildren, who were born in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan, who never saw their historical land. But they live with a strong will in their heart to return. And they will return. We will do everything in order to restore territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Again I’d like to say that international law norms fully support Azerbaijan’s position,” the head of state said.