Domestic

Home page

Domestic

Azerbaijani Parliament discusses amendments and annexes to law on â€œFreedom of religionâ€

08 May 2009 12:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Elbrus Seyfulayev â€“ APA. Decision to rename Shatrovka village of Salyan region to Chadirli has been passed in todayâ€™s sitting of Azerbaijani Parliament, APA reports. The parliamentarians also adopted amendments and annexes to the law on â€œInsurance of savingsâ€ and law on instituting jubilee medal â€œ90th anniversary of border securityâ€.

Following this, amendments and annexes to the law on â€œFreedom of religionâ€ were discussed. Chairperson of the parliamentâ€™s committee for human rights Rabiyyat Aslanova said the law on â€œFreedom of religionâ€ was adopted in 1992, eight amendments and annexes were made to the law. According to her, there were 18 mosques in the country during the period of USSR, while there are 1750 mosques now.

Aslanova some of the amendments were connected with the issues arising from the referendum. She said according to the proposed amendments, religious communities can function only after being registered. Religious communities are allowed to function in the place shown during the registration.

MP Igbal Agazadeh said there should be healthy religious schools in Azerbaijan.
â€œReligious trends such as nurculuk, wahhabism, back the existing religious schools. There are religious communities that are under influence of Saudi Arabia,â€ he said.

Speaking about the draft law, MP Zahid Oruj said sounding of azan through loudspeakers was restricted, while this restriction was not applied to church bells.
â€œThis is paradoxical,â€ he said.

MP Mubariz Gurbanli offered to make the law stricter, make amendments and annexes to other items.

Panah Huseyn said amendment and annexes would not prevent missionary outreach in Azerbaijan.
â€œThis amendment serves atheism. Religion should be protected in Azerbaijan,â€ he said.

Fazil Mustafa said there was no notion of sanctuary in Islam, the only sacred place was Kaaba.
â€œDiscrimination tendencies are strengthening against Islam. We should protect Islam, struggle against extremism,â€ he said.

The discussions will continue in the second half of the day.