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Allahshukur Pashazade: Muslim world facing enormous threats and provocations likely to lead to catastrophe

16 April 2015 09:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. Despite being part of the Islamic world, Azerbaijan is on the other hand a secular and multi-religious country. Islam is an inseparable element of the historical and spiritual, heritage, culture, and national mentality in our country. Preservation of ethnic and cultural diversity in Azerbaijan over hundreds of years is a historical achievement of ours that serves national and spiritual solidarity and socio-political stability in our society.

Haji Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasian Muslim Office (CMO), made the remarks at the international conference entitled “Islamic enlightenment and modernity”, held in Baku on Thursday, APA reported.

Pashazade said today Azerbaijan is one the countries that promote the scientific importance of Islam to the peace-loving and tolerant world, noting that Azerbaijan is not the previous oppressed state.

“As a full member of the Council of Europe today, Azerbaijan defines the agenda on global and regional issues. And this is, without doubt, an accomplishment that we achieved thanks to the efforts of our head of state. We are pleased with the fact that along with increasing the country’s economic and political strength, our president also displays a sensitive approach toward the development of our religious and scientific atmosphere. Azerbaijan’s first lady Mehriban Aliyeva and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation that she leads play a key role in the preservation of our cultural heritage and national and moral values,” he underlined.

The CMO chairman added that the modern world where globalization and integration processes are raging is also being stricken by contradictious processes, national, cultural, spiritual and political confrontations in different regions, Islamophobia and Xenophobia.

“I would regrettably like to say that cases like ethnic-political confrontations, terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism that threaten the whole mankind is a bitter truth of our time. In such a situation, there is a great need for intercultural dialogue and joint work among scientists and religious figures,” Pashazade said.

Pashazade also said that in the modern period, we face with a serious threat to the society and human life and the devastating activity of the radical religious sects and movements which they belong themselves to Islam.

“The Muslim world is facing enormous threats and provocations likely to lead to catastrophe. As you know, we are the representatives of the people who witnessed the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, the integral part of Azerbaijan, the Khojaly genocide, destruction of the mosques and our historical monuments, and suffered from terrorist attacks committed by the Armenian extremists. We condemn the massacres in Iraq, the atrocities in Syria, abominations committed by ISIL, the war crimes and terrorist acts in Jerusalem, as witnessed such disasters. We regard Armenia’s introducing itself as "innocent victim" despite the fact that it has pursued a policy of deportation and genocide against Azerbaijanis for over two hundred years, as political hypocrisy. Those who recognize the so-called Armenian genocide by distorting authentic facts tend to overlook the Khojaly massacre and have so far failed to give legal and political assessment to the tragedy,” the CMO chairman completed.