Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Religious Organizations has condemned a resolution of the German Bundestag adopted on June 12.

The document accuses Azerbaijan of restricting religious freedom and discriminating against non-Muslim religious communities within the country.

The committee’s press service reported that Azerbaijan’s religious policy is based upon equal conditions for all religious confessions and state care to religious communities and places of worship.

The Committee said despite being secular, the Azerbaijani state always provides special care to religion, constructing and repairing churches and synagogues along with mosques.

It stressed that the head of state annually allocates funds from the president’s reserve fund for religious communities and that 400,000 manats of this year’s allocations have been given to non-Muslim communities.

“There have never been religious, racial or ethnic clashes in our country in any period of history. Azerbaijan’s tolerance, the state’s multiculturalism policy are accepted as an example and positive experience in the entire world. The state registers all Muslim and non-Muslim communities – regardless of their belief – which comply with the law, and such communities continue to exist freely. The German Bundestag showing such a negative attitude towards Azerbaijan and accusing our country of religious discrimination is unacceptable,” the statement reads.

The Committee went on to say that Germany has been seeing in recent years increasing Islamophobia and religious and ethnic confrontations and that these processes are still continuing.

“After officially rejecting multiculturalism in 2010, Germany has contributed to current anti-Islamic movements and growing Islamophobia. Those Bundestag members and political circles had better discuss and assess causes and consequences of Islamophobia, anti-Islamic movements, and religious and ethnic discrimination raging in Germany instead of discussing an issue about Azerbaijan. We strongly condemn the supreme legislative body of a country where such negative cases happen and people are discriminated at the state level claiming human rights are violated in Azerbaijan and brining baseless accusations against our country,” the statement reads.

The Committee warned that any force seeking to paint a negative picture of Azerbaijan in the international community will not succeed in fulfilling their intention.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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