OSCE officials meet vice-speaker of Azerbaijani parliament
Baku, October 12 (AZERTAC). Visiting Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims Adil Akhmetov, Rabbi Andrew Baker and Judge Catherine McGuiness met on Thursday vice-speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament, head of parliamentary delegation to OSCE Bahar Muradova.
Stressing the high level of tolerance in Azerbaijan, Bahar Muradova said that such important issues as multiculturalism, religious tolerance, Islamophobia, strengthening intercultural and interreligious dialogue and other issues were discussed in the autumn session of the OSCE PA in Tirana.
"The Azerbaijani delegation actively attends the discussions and promotion of the OSCE values in the world. This is a brilliant example of our cooperation,“ she noted.
“Representatives of international organizations, politicians involved in the ongoing important events in Baku, appreciate the level of tolerance in Azerbaijan, as well as the conditions created for representatives of all faiths and communities.”
“The representatives of various faiths and nations have lived together in peace for many centuries as a family without any controversy. Muslims make up 95 % of the population in Azerbaijan, Christians 4 %, and the representatives of other religions - the rest part. There is a progressive legal framework and relevant institutions guaranteeing equality of rights and freedoms of all citizens regardless of nation or creed. The Azerbaijani parliament seeks to honor, preserve and deliver these important traditions to the future generations“, she added.
She also noted that despite religious conflicts have never occurred in Azerbaijan, unfortunately, some circles and politicians want to give a religious feature to the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"It is not a religious or ethnic conflict, in fact. This conflict began on the basis of Armenia`s territorial claims against Azerbaijan."
The meeting was also attended by chairwoman of the Azerbaijani parliament`s human rights committee Rabiyyat Aslanova, leader of Azerbaijan`s Russian community and representative of Christianity Mikhail Zabelin and others. The speakers provided information on the good conditions created for various nations and religious communities in the country.
Adil Akhmetov updated participants on their mission and said that the purpose of the visit was to eliminate the differences and to examine the relations between different religions and other issues.
The delegation will visit Armenia and a report prepared following the visit will be presented to the OSCE Permanent Council.
Andrew Baker and Catherine McGuiness emphasized that they saw mutual understanding and trust between national minorities and religious communities during the meetings in Azerbaijan.
The OSCE officials appreciated the fact that different peoples have been represented in the Azerbaijani state bodies. They also underlined that the Azerbaijani model of tolerance is an example for other countries and this experience must be applied everywhere.
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