Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 July / Trend corr. E.Babayev / MP Gultakin Hajiyeva, a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said that the attempts are taken to cause chaos in the religious sphere in Azerbaijan. "There are attempts to come to the country via the help of religion and to split the country inside,' the MP told rend News on 24 July.
Azerbaijan does not experience problems with the registration process of religious communities. Under the legislation, religious communities can easily pass the state registration as non-governmental organizations. Some experts want to toughen the legislation in the sphere of religion. In 2007, a range of religious groups were neutralized by the Azerbaijani law enforcement departments.
In October- November 2007, a radical vahabits group was neutralized as a result of the operations held by the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry. According to the Ministry, the arrested persons testified that they intended to commit terrorist acts in the United States and Great Britain Embassies in Azerbaijan.
The law enforcement departments held special operations to disclose vahabits in Shaki and Gusar. The prohibited religious books and Kalashnikov gun were revealed and seized from the house in Shaki. Two servants of the Gusar based Police Station were wounded as a result of the operation.
Hajiyeva did not detail the religious danger source in the country. "Strong and independent policy in Azerbaijan based on the national interests does not please most of our neighbors. There are attempts to come to the country by using religion. There is need to make changes into the religious sphere,' Hajiyeva said.
"The activity of untraditional religious groups is quite widely spread in Azerbaijan. From time to time media gives the information about missioner organizations. Such information is based on serious sources. Azerbaijan is a very important, attractive, perspective and leading country in the region. The attempts to make this country into the target range have been taken always,' Hajiyeva said.
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