PROTECTION OF NUMEROUS CULTURES WELL ARRANGED IN AZERBAIJAN
Opening the meeting with an opening address, Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Religious Structures Rafig Aliyev has informed participants on the reasons of creation of structure supervised by him and the work carried out. He informed, that at present 257 religious communities have been registered in the Committee, 23 of which ate non-Muslim orientation.
In the statement, Secretary General СЕ W. Schwimmer has especially emphasized, that the freedom of worship is one of the fundamental values proclaimed by the Convention on Human Rights. Having recognized that recently ideas about collision of civilizations even more often sound, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe has emphasized, that does not support them. At the same time, he stated that work on preservation of civilizations and cultures of the various nations are put in Azerbaijan at a high level.
Also speaking were the representatives of religious communities. The rector of the Baku Islamic University Haji Sabir Hasanli told: “In our Republic, there is a high toleration. Till now citizens of the Armenian nationality whose rights are protected, live in Azerbaijan. And in the neighboring Armenia, now did not remain any Azerbaijani.
The head of Baku and Caspian dioceses, bishop Alexander also has noted presence of kind attitudes between carrying out activity in Azerbaijan various religious faiths. It, in particular, is observed at carrying out of religious holidays. So, representatives of various religious beliefs congratulate each other on holidays. Using the opportunity, Father Alexander has congratulated all the Jews on holiday Easter. In his statement, he also has emphasized, that in Azerbaijan two Armenian Christian churches were kept, and the Orthodox Church in Baku renders everything, including to Armenians living in Azerbaijan, the help for free departure of religious practices.
The meeting has passed in conditions of mutual trust and has raised hopes that, despite of numerous conflicts proceeding in the world, including the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, representatives of various ethnic groups and religious faiths can not only peacefully coexist, but also fruitfully cooperate.
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