BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. The Azerbaijani government takes seriously the duty to protect every single religious site without any discrimination, said Elchin Amirbayov, Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on special assignments, in an interview with the Italian Sir, Trend reports.
“All places of worship in the territory of Azerbaijan, regardless of their religious origin, are a part of our rich cultural and religious heritage that reflects the nature of our multi-ethnic and multicultural society,” he said.
According to Amirbayov, by the end of the Second Karabakh War in November 2020, the competent authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan had carried out an inventory of all the cultural and religious sites in the territories that were under illegal foreign occupation and affected by the war.
“Those that survived the two wars and were damaged are now in the phase of reconstruction, but unfortunately, many of the cultural and religious monuments have been completely destroyed by the occupying forces. 65 of the 67 mosques in Karabakh and other previously occupied territories were razed to the ground,” the representative of the President added.
Elchin Amirbayov also pounded out that Azerbaijan is a secular country which is proud of its cultural and religious diversity, which, for centuries, muslims, christians, jews and representatives of other faiths living in harmony and friendship next to each other.
“We firmly believe that the treaty of peace, which, it is hoped, may be concluded soon between our countries, not only will put a formal end to one of the ethnic conflict, the more long and tragic events of the world, but it will also help to build trust between the armenians and azerbaijanis and allow them to live together as good neighbors, and one day, hopefully, as friends,” he said.