Ramin Mammadov, Chairman of the State Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations, spoke at the Global Conference on the Protection of Religious Monuments within the framework of the 10th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in Cascais, Portugal on November 27.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's contributions to intercultural and interreligious dialogue, Chairman of the State Committee reminded that our country hosts many prestigious events organized by the UN Alliance of Civilizations. Speaking about the Global Summit of Religious Leaders organized under the theme "World Religions for a Green Planet" within the framework of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), R. Mammadov emphasized that the event was aimed at eliminating various environmental problems faced by the world. the rich spiritual potential of confessions, the ability of influential religious leaders to play an important role in solving global issues were brought to the attention of the world community.
R. Mammadov said that more than 2,000 mosques, 16 churches, 7 synagogues and other religious places of worship in our country, where representatives of all religions and ethnic groups live in friendly and peaceful conditions as a family, are part of the rich heritage of Azerbaijan. He said that in the territories occupied by Armenia for nearly 30 years, the history of ancient Albanian monuments, which are an integral part of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, were falsified under the name of repair and restoration, 65 out of 67 mosques were completely destroyed, 2 were partially destroyed and rendered useless, 200 cemeteries were destroyed, and by committing other similar acts, grossly violated the requirements of a number of international conventions related to the protection of cultural values.
The Chairman of the Committee said that in our multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country, the protection of the historical-cultural heritage, national-spiritual values, including the restoration and protection of religious places of worship and material-cultural monuments is always in the center of attention. President Ilham Aliyev demonstrates Azerbaijan's exemplary experience in state-religion relations by consistently providing financial and moral support to religious communities and their leaders, as well as restoring mosques and churches in the territories liberated from occupation. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, implements numerous projects in the field of strengthening interreligious dialogue and cooperation, within the framework of the "Address of Tolerance-Azerbaijan" project, mosques, churches and synagogues in the country are repaired and restored.
Ramin Mammadov emphasized that our country is ready to contribute to solving global problems in accordance with universal interests.