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PUBLIC RELATIONS / 

News
01.02.2023 / News

Chairman of the State Committee meets the UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan

February 1, Chairman of the State Committee on Religious Associations (SCRA) Mubariz Gurbanli met Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Azerbaijan Fergus Auld.

The Chairman of the State Committee has given a detailed information about the religion–state relations, freedom of conscience enshrined in the Constitution, the atmosphere of tolerance in the country, relations of cooperation based on mutual respect among the representatives of various religions and confessions, including the State Committee on Religious Associations which carries out activities in the sphere of regulation of those relations.

As a secular state, Azerbaijan’s principle of equal attitude to confessions has been preserved in the absolute sense. Consistent actions are being taken in the direction of supporting the activities of 993 religious communities, 37 of which are non-Islamic. In addition, by the order of President Ilham Aliyev, all confessions are under constant attention, irrespective of anything in the work of construction, reconstruction and repair of places of worship along with financial assistance to religious communities in Azerbaijan.

The Chairman also focused on the facts such as acts of vandalism committed by the Armenians, destruction of cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijani people, alteration and grigorianization of internal and external views of the historical and religious sites belonging to Caucasian Albania during the occupation of Karabakh and surrounding areas. Mr. Gurbanli stressed that the process of restoration of historical and religious monuments by the state has already begun.

Expressing gratitude for the warm welcome, the Ambassador has said that he witnesses high level multicultural and tolerant environment, representatives of different cultures and religions and ethnic minorities have been living in harmony and mutual respect in Azerbaijan.

At the end of the meeting, the Ambassador was presented books in English about the atmosphere of religious tolerance in our country and Armenian vandalism committed against our material and cultural heritage published by the SCRA.