Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli said that Azerbaijan is known in the world as an exemplary country in terms of tolerance.
He noted that though Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, different religious communities are freely operating here and representatives of the Council of Europe hold positive positions on religious tolerance in Azerbaijan: “They visited Guba and familiarized with the activity of the synagogue.”
Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Gurbanli said that Armenian occupied Azerbaijan’s lands and this conflict is not religious in character: “There are about 30,000 Armenians and an Armenian church in Baku. This is an indicator”.
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Gabriella Battani-Dragoni thanked Azerbaijan for the organization of such an event: “We held such an expanded meeting with journalists at the sport-related event in 2009. The Ministry of Youths and Sport held event on gambling and corruption. In this regard, a convention will be adopted soon and 27 states will sign this convention.”
Mentioning that religious and cultural forums have been held in Azerbaijan since 2008, Battani-Dragoni said these events turned Baku into a place of religious and intercultural discussions. According to her, today’s event in Baku is related to religion ad democracy: “Catholics, Buddhists lived in Azerbaijan and were engaged in trade here for a long time. All this allow protection of diversity in the society. Representatives of different conventions in Azerbaijan made speeches at today’s event”.
Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Council of Europe, Chair of the Rapporteur Group on Education, Culture, Sport, Youth and Environment of the Committee of Ministers Luis Filipe Castro Mendes thanked Azerbaijan for the excellent organization of the event. According to him, Azerbaijan fulfills its obligations on inter-religious dialogue: “Combating intolerance is a contribution to the world peace. Islamaphobia in the Western Europe is strengthening. Therefore, such issues are on the agenda”.
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