Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 31
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
There are extremist religious forces, currents, which are opposed to Azerbaijan, some are perhaps funded by Armenia and Armenian extremists, said Sheikhulislam Hajji Allahshukur Pashazadeh, the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office (CMO).
"Therefore it is necessary to be cautious," said Pashazadeh March 30 at an event dedicated to the March 31 - Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis.
He went on to say that the one who has honor and dignity, who is a citizen, an Azerbaijani, a Turkic person, should express an opinion regarding the genocide.
"Back in the Soviet time, when I was a sheikh, we were not allowed to visit Turkey. We could go to Iran, Saudi Arabia, but not to Turkey," said Pashazadeh. "The relations with Turkey were established only after Azerbaijan gained independence."
"Today, some seek to create a rift between us, but all that to no avail. We do not divide Muslims into Shiites and Sunnis," he said. "I am against it."
Pashazadeh noted that a split has emerged among the Sunnis as well.
"This should not have happened. There is even a rift among Shiites. Some people live with the idea that there will be a place for them here, conditions will be created, and in the future they will do anything. However, they will not achieve their goals. We will destroy radicalism," Pashazadeh stressed.
Sheikhulislam also noted that the Arab countries failed to demonstrate unity against Israel on Palestine, but the League of Arab States created a coalition against Yemen.
As a result of a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing, genocide and deportation of Azerbaijanis, pursued in the last two centuries by Armenian nationalists and their supporters, Azerbaijani people faced severe challenges.
This policy even more intensified in 1918-20. The genocide was committed on March 31, 1918, when hundreds of towns and villages of Azerbaijan were destroyed, as well as 150 Azerbaijani villages in Karabakh were turned into ruins, an unprecedented bloodshed in Shusha was committed.
More than 700,000 Azerbaijanis, including 30,000 persons in Baku and in surrounding villages were brutally murdered, mosques and schools were burned down.
Edited by CN