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Mubariz Gurbanli: Financial sources of those who send our youth to Syria, IS or anywhere else will be destroyed immediately

31 October 2014 15:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. “Radical religious groups are inclined to both extremism and terrorism. They naturally carry out it through some economic base they created in various ways, and these cases can be seen in Azerbaijan as well”, Mubariz Gurbanli, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, said in his interview to APA.

Gurbanli said they are regularly receiving information about radical religious groups owning shops and even large commercial facilities.

“Citizens have property immunity. That’s right. It’s another issue. We don’t say anyone who changes their physical appearance and opens a shop is radical. Someone can change their appearance but may not have fallen into that swamp yet. We first work with relevant authorities to make sure whether they spend what they earn from these shops on their families, lives, or other personal issues or they expend it to help create any radical group or any other harmful purposes. We should first learn this. They may have shops in Sadarak, Bina, or somewhere else. But it does not necessarily mean this case is commonplace and they all serve radical purposes. All those brainwashed can not be considered radical yet. We must talk with them,” he said.

Gurbanli said that to prevent the radical extremist tendency, it is necessary to undermine their economic base.

“We will not allow anyone to raise funds by various means in Azerbaijan and send them to any groups for terrorist purposes. If any forces spend funds for sending our young people to Syria, the Islamic State or anywhere else, they will be prevented and the source of these funds will be immediately destroyed”, Gurbanli added.

To the question “Today, some detainees link their arrest with their religious activities. What can you say about this matter?”, Gurbanli replied:

“Personally, I think it is wrong to divide the citizens into religious and non-religious groups. There is difference between religious figures and civilians. The law doesn’t allow the religious figures to engage in political activities. However, there is no prohibition for religious people in this regard. Religion is free. There is no political prisoner in Azerbaijan. There are people who have been convicted of violating provisions of civil law. They have been arrested for criminal offenses under certain articles. We don’t prosecute anyone for their faith and belief. If so, a number of people would be arrested. No one is prosecuted for his faith. Therefore, the allegations are unfounded.”