BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 14. Since 2003, more
than 800 mosques across Azerbaijan have been built, extensively
renovated, or reconstructed, the head of the Baku City Executive
Authority, Eldar Azizov, told Trend while addressing attempts by certain circles to
exploit the school uniform issue in order to incite religious
tensions and provoke unrest in society.
“When discussing the Azerbaijani state’s attitude toward Islam
and religious heritage in general, it is important to rely not on
statements, but first and foremost on concrete facts from the past
centuries. In our country, during no other historical period or
under any other socio-political system were as many mosques built
and restored as during the tenure of Heydar Aliyev and subsequently
under President Ilham Aliyev. It is surprising when Azerbaijan’s
attitude toward Islam is called into question. The facts speak for
themselves. President Ilham Aliyev has paid special attention to
the preservation and restoration of religious monuments and to
restoring the historical and spiritual significance of mosques,” he
said.
Eldar. Azizov emphasized that the example of Karabakh is
particularly telling: after the liberation of the territories, one
of the top priorities was the restoration of mosques and other
religious monuments.
“The head of state personally visited the restored holy sites,
emphasizing the importance of preserving the country's Islamic and
spiritual heritage. This is an indisputable fact,” he
concluded.
Meanwhile, the introduction of uniform requirements for school
uniforms in Azerbaijan has become a pretext for provocative
attempts to portray the secular principles of education as
allegedly directed against Islam.
By exploiting religious themes, certain external circles seek to
distort the essence of the decisions being made, artificially pit
the state against believers, and sow division within society. Such
manipulations are aimed at escalating tensions, fanning discord,
and undermining social stability in Azerbaijan.
