Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 29 / Trend , M.Aliyev /
People living in the Caucasus should make every effort to prevent the spread of terrorist ideology in the region and protect neighbors from being subjected to aggression. People should also work to solve religious issues, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Religious Associations Hidayat Orujov said at an academic conference, titled "Preventing the Spread of Extremist Ideology in the Caucasus," dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, Armenia's ongoing aggression against Azerbaijan creates serious problems which prevent peace and stability, and strengthen traditions of tolerance throughout the entire region," he said.
Orujov said that inter-religious relations are at a high level in Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan is among the few states without any conflicts based on religious grounds. Representatives of various religions and religious sects operate on conditions of mutual understanding and friendship," he stated.
Orujov said that all religious confessions in Azerbaijan oppose the harmful trends and ideologies of extremism.
"Today, some have sown seeds of discord among the region's Muslims, thus making the distinction between religious and sectarian tendencies more acute. They cast a shadow on the ideology of humanism and solidarity in Islam. Unfortunately, often such cases occur due to processes occurring in the Islamic world, because of Muslims themselves. It is important to be attentive to the regulation of relations between state and religion, organization of inter-religious dialogue, and protection of a tolerant environment in such a situation," he added.
The conference was organized by the Caucasus Muslims Office and the Moscow State Linguistic University. Azerbaijani and Russian religious figures, theologians, and public representatives of civil society are planning to attend the conference.