July 29, The First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sayyad Salahli met with Director General of Israel-Azerbaijan International Association "AzIz” Lev Spivak, Secretary General of the Labor (HaAvoda) Party Yehiel Bar and his Advisor Melamed Lemuel.

Informing the guests about the religious situation in Azerbaijan, Sayyad Salahli noted that Jews who are living in our country have an ancient history. Friendly relations, mutual understanding and solidarity exist between the two peoples. Freedom of religion guaranteed at a high level in our country, and representatives of all religions possess equal rights in their activities and perform religious rites. In this regard, the international community highly appreciated the current model of state-religion relations in Azerbaijan. At the same time, he drew to the attention that the tradition of tolerance is a product of the genetic memory of our people and has become an integral part of public policy and risen to the level of one of the exemplary models worldwide. The state pays constant attention, takes care to the religious denominations, and provides them with financial support annually aimed at guaranteeing their activities and enlightenment.

The guests expressed gratitude for the cordial meeting, delivered congratulations on the liberation of the territories of Azerbaijan by amid 44-day Patriotic War that had been under occupation by Armenia for over 30 years. They said that lack of anti-Semitism, successful results of the model of state-religion relations, as well as the environment of religious tolerance in Azerbaijan are undeniable. This model should be preserved, developed, studied and applied in a broad sense, not only in the regional countries, but also all over the world.

The world needs peace and truce, taking advantage of the Azerbaijani model of tolerance has become a requirement of the time, emphasized in the meeting.