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Vusala Mahirgizi: "We must fight together against prejudice that foreign influences want to spread on social media"

Vusala Mahirgizi, Director General of APA Media Group

15 July 2025 22:24 (UTC +04:00)

"The media should approach religious issues from the perspective of both the state-religion concept, enlightenment on religious issues, and the concept of combating attempts at religious manipulation."

Religion in Azerbaijan is outside politics and is based on values

It was stated by APA Media Group Director General Vusala Mahirgizi during her speech at the conference on "Modern Information Space and Freedom of Religious Belief" in Shamakhi.

Vusala Mahirgizi said that Azerbaijan is one of the rare countries where religion is protected in a healthy way: "In Azerbaijan, people's religious sensitivities and sacred values are not turned into a means of political use. On the contrary, constant enlightenment has been associated with the fact that politics does not penetrate religious spaces."

Azerbaijan is an example in protecting Islamic values

Vusala Mahirgizi emphasized that Azerbaijan is an exemplary country in the protection of Islamic values and religious identity:

"After the conquest of Constantinople, Fatih Sultan Mehmet built mosques as a confirmation of the transformation of Istanbul into a center for Muslim Turks. Istanbul was becoming a center with rare religious monuments of Islamic culture. In the new era, this work is being done by the leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in Karabakh and East Zangezur. If you pay attention, the first monuments that the President built in our liberated territories are mosques. These mosques are confirmation monuments of our national and religious identity in Karabakh and East Zangezur. The call to prayer rising from those minarets reminds the other side of the border that we are there every day. In my opinion, this is a great service, a great renewal of memory, not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the Islamic world. The leader who did this is Ilham Aliyev. In my opinion, these nuances should be emphasized not only in the media, but also in the speeches of our religious figures."

Journalists writing about religion should specialize

Vusala Mahirgizi stressed the importance of constant dialogue between the media and religious organizations in the country, as well as the Institute of Theology.

"There is a need for those writing about religious topics in the media to be informed, and it would be great if specialized professionals were trained in this field."

The Director General emphasized that one of the issues that the media should approach with particular sensitivity is the prevention of hate speech.

Unity is important against the prejudice and aggression spread by foreign influences

"Speaking of this issue, this is the point I would like to emphasize in particular. Tolerance and mutual respect are important here. Sometimes we see more tolerant behavior towards believers on social networks than from believers. However, religious morality preaches patience, tolerance, and respect for opposing views. I must also emphasize a sensitive issue here. Especially on social media, cases of instilling prejudice through foreign influences under the name of religion, and contrasting patriotic feelings with religious respect are observed. This is an issue that I am currently following on social networks. Foreign influences are trying to create an aggressive image of believers by manipulating religion. Of course, both the media and religious figures should be very careful in these issues. We must jointly fight against the ignorance, prejudice, and manipulation attempts that foreign influences want to spread in the Azerbaijani social media segment."