Religion

Religion

Hidayat Orujov: â€œ1802 mosques, 10 churches, 6 synagogues function in Azerbaijanâ€

16 June 2011 13:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Parvin Abbasov â€“ APA. There are 1802 mosques, 5 orthodox, 1 catholic, 4 Georgian-orthodox churches, 6 synagogues and the other shrines in Azerbaijan, said chairman of State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Hidayat Orujov in his report to the conference â€œNational minorities and cultural rights of migrants: the legal aspects and implementationâ€ within the 9th International Baku Conference of Human Rights Commissioners. The report says that according to the statistics, 96% of Azerbaijani population is Muslims, 4% - Christians, Jews and representatives of other religions.

The report also says that the attitude in all periods to the Jews living in Azerbaijan was univocally good: Red Village of Guba is the only residential section after Israel where the Jews live compactly. There are two synagogues in the settlement today and 7 Jewish communities were registered by the State Committeeâ€.

The report also says that the Christianity was one of the leading religions in Azerbaijan: â€œ11 churches, including 3 orthodox and 1 catholic churches are functioning in Baku, one orthodox and other churches in Ganja and Khacmazâ€.

The report also says that the number of constructed mosques after Azerbaijan achieved independence is 595.

â€œ594 religious organizations have been registered by the State Committee on Work with Religious Organizations till April 2009. Owing to the amendments and annexes in the relevant legislation that year, the registration of religious organizations has been started again. 512 religious communities have been registered since the amendments and annexes in the legislationâ€, the report says.