NEWS IN DECEMBER 2020

29 December

194 Azerbaijani children were brought home from Iraq in 2020

In 2020, 194 Azerbaijani children detained in the Iraqi prisons were brought back to Azerbaijan and, after some rehabilitation period they were entrusted to the custody of their relatives. This information is published in the annual report of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the official information of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior Affairs, 1,477 Azerbaijani citizens have gone to Syria and Iraq where they joined the illegal armed units. Thus, 903 people (749 men and 154 women) were killed or considered missing.

Earlier, in March 2020, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahav announced that 82 Azerbaijani children were repatriated to their homeland from the Iraqi prisons where they had been jailed along with their imprisoned mothers who had joined ISIS.

NEWS IN NOVEMBER 2020

7 November

Hikmat Hajiyev, the President Secretary: “All churches and mosques on the occupied territory will be restored”

Hikmat Hajiyev

Hikmat Hajiyev, the Azerbaijani President Secretary wrote on his Twitter account:

“The twelfth-century St Mary’s Church in Gabala has been completely renovated and granted to the Christian Azerbaijani community. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has recently initiated the renovation. Likewise, all churches and mosques on the occupied Azerbaijani territories will also undergo reconstruction”.

 

8 November

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: “28 years later there will once again be a call to prayer in the city of Shusha”

On 8 November, on the occasion of the liberation of Shusha, the President, Ilham Aliyev, addressed the nation:

“The town of Shusha had been under occupation for 28 and a half years. It holds a special place in the history of Azerbaijan. It is our ancient, historical place. Azerbaijanis have lived, built and created there for centuries. Shusha is the jewel of not only Azerbaijan but the entire Caucasus. However, by occupying Shusha, the hateful enemy caused considerable damage to our cultural heritage, ruined our historical monuments, destroyed our mosques and insulted us. We are now back to Shusha. We will restore all our historical monuments, rebuild all our mosques and the Azan (call to prayer) will once again be heard in Shusha 28 years later. At the unveiling of the mosque built on my initiative in the village of Jojug Marjanli, which was liberated from the occupation following the April 2016 fighting, I said that the mosque was similar in size and architectural style to the mosque in Shusha. At the time, I added that the day would come when we rebuild the mosques in Shusha that had been destroyed by Armenian vandals. And this day will come. Today the flag of Azerbaijan is raised in Shusha. Today the entire Azerbaijani nation is proud to welcome this joyful news. ”

 

13 November

Friday prayers performed in Shusha after 28 years

Friday prayers in Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha City

For the first time in 28 years, Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha City opened its doors to Azerbaijanis on Friday.  Agency Report.az presents video footage of that historic moment for the Muslims.

 

NEWS IN OCTOBER 2020

9 October

The Azerbaijani authorities concerned about religious monuments destroyed by Armenians in Karabakh

State Committee on Work with Religious Organisations

According to the list released by the State Committee on Work with Religious Organisations (SCWRO), there are 403 historical religious monuments throughout the occupied territories of Karabakh. These include 67 mosques, 144 temples and 192 sanctuaries.

As stated by SCWRO, the Islamic religious monuments, i.e., mosques, mausoleums and other places of worship, have suffered the most destruction. As a result of Armenian policies, 63 of the 67 officially functioning Muslim mosques in and around Karabakh (13 in Shusha, 5 in Agdam, 16 in Fuzuli, 12 in Zangilan, 5 in Jabrayil, 8 in Qubadly, 8 in Lachin) were completely destroyed, and 4 were partially damaged. Due to pressure made by the international institutions, the Juma Mosque in Agdam, as well as the Saatly, Ashagi Gevharag and Yukhary Gevharag mosques in the city of Shusha could have been partially safeguarded. According to the SCWRO, Armenians kept domestic animals, including pigs, inside the Agdam Juma Mosque, demonstrating their hate towards the Azerbaijanis.

 

15 October

The President Ilham Aliyev: “There are neither historical nor religious agendas among our objectives”

On 14 October, 2020, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the channel France 24 that the level of religious tolerance in the country is at a very high standard and as an example pointed to the following,

“You may have seen the Armenian church right in the centre of Baku, which we had restored. We consider it as a heritage of the Armenian people”.

The Head of the State further emphasized

“We preserve there more than 5,000 ancient books written in Armenian language. And what Armenia had done with our mosques? What had they done to the mosques in Agdam, Fuzuli and Shushi? We might say that they more than destroyed them. They keep pigs there and thus insult not only our feelings but also the feelings of all Muslims”.

Ilham Aliyev also commented on the bombing the churches in Nagorno-Karabakh,

“I am not saying we did it for revenge. No, not at all. We have to investigate the issue. We are not sure what is going on there. We have doubts … it may have been done by Armenians in order to accuse us for this. If it was done by the Azerbaijani military forces, then it was a mistake.”

The President Ilham Aliyev also emphasized that there were no historical or religious monuments amongst the targets of the Azerbaijani military.

 

16 October

A call to prayer is heard at the mosque in the liberated town of Jabrayil for the first time in 27 years

 The occupied town of Jabrayil was liberated by the Azerbaijani army and, for the first time in 27 years, the call to prayer (azan) for Muslims was heard in a local mosque that had been previously damaged.

NEWS IN AUGUST 2020

7 August

There are 23 Christian places of worship in Azerbaijan

Jahandar Alifzade, the Head of the Department on Work with the Religious Structures within the State Committee, told the Azerbaijani media that according to the latest data, 2.253 (212 of them in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic) mosques, 14 churches and 7 synagogues are functioning in the country. In addition, there are 23 Christian places of worship, 1 Baha’i and 1 Krishna temple in Azerbaijan.

According to Jahandar Alifzade, there are 942 registered religious organizations in Azerbaijan:

“907 out of them are Islamic and 35 are non-Islamic, e.g. 24 Christian, 8 Jewish, 2 Baha’i and 1 Krishna religious structures”.

NEWS IN JUNE 2020

2 June

Financial Assistance to Religious Organizations

On 2 June 2020 the President of Azerbaijan signed a decree on providing financial assistance to the country’s religious structures. Funds will be allocated from the Presidential Reserve Fund in the 2020 state budget.

The Caucasus Muslims Office will receive 2 million manats;

Baku and Azerbaijan diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church – 350 thousand manats;

Religious community of mountain Jews of Baku – 350 thousand manats;

Religious community of European Jews in Baku – 150 thousand manats;

Apostolic Prefecture of the Catholic Church – 150 thousand manats;

Albanian-Udine Christian community – 150 thousand manats.

To provide material support to other non-Islamic religious communities of the country, the Propaganda of Spiritual Values ​​ Fund under the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations has been allocated 100 thousand manats.

 

4 June

European Court found violation of the rights of the leader of Muslim Unity Movement

Tale Bagirzade

On 4 June 2020 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced a decision on the complaint of the leader of the Muslim Unity Movement Tale Bagirzade and the other six applicants of Azerbaijan.

The complaint was related to a violation of the applicants’ rights to liberty and security of person.

A lawyer Khalid Agaliyev explained that the applicants: Tale Bagirzade, Samand Mammadov, Ismail Mammadov, Eldaniz Hajiyev, Afgan Samadov, Rashad Ibrahimov and Elkhan Iskandarov complained about their unlawful arrest.

The Government of Azerbaijan agreed that the applicants’ pre-trial arrest was lengthy, agreed to pay compensation to the applicants and asked the court to withdraw the complaint from the list of pending cases. The ECtHR agreed with this.

The government of Azerbaijan will pay 3000 euros to each applicant.

Bagirzade’s complaint also related to the pre-trial arrest in the previous criminal case “on illegal possession of drugs” in 2013, when he was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

In 2015, Bagirzade was arrested during a special operation in Nardaran and sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of terrorism, an attempt to change the constitutional order, create an illegal armed group, etc.

He is recognized as a political prisoner.

 

9 June

Sam Brownback: “Religious freedom for all must be protected, including in employment”

Sam Brownback

On 8 June 2020 Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, tweeted:

“The U.S. is concerned by reports that, after nearly 20 years of distinguished service, Rahim Akhundov was dismissed from the Parliament of Azerbaijan due to his faith. Religious freedom for all must be protected, including in employment.”

USA concerns comes amid reports that Christians might be disciplined or dismissed for practising their faith in Azerbaijan.

Rahim Akhundov, 50, who worked at Azerbaijani Parliament, has sued his former employers for unfair dismissal in 2018.

“Judge of the Baku Administrative Court Miminat Hajibeyova did not consider the case on its merits, because she ignored the facts of human rights violation and intimidation and pressure exerted on me by the Parliament,” he recently noted on Facebook.

In 2018 that he was a victim of religious conversion. In a 2018 Facebook post, Akhundov questioned, without hinting his own case,

“To whom or which state agency the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan must address, if they are fired for their religious beliefs? If it occurs what should a citizen do? Should he/she remain silent or raise this issue?”

 

NEWS IN MAY 2020

5 May

Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade calls on Trump to lift sanctions against Iran

Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade

Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Department (CMD), Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade sent a letter to US President Donald Trump, urging him to lift sanctions from Iran.

“The grace of the Almighty Creator lies in the fact that, despite crises, confrontations and conflicts, there are eternal values ​​that do not allow our world to fall into the abyss.

Among them is the peaceful coexistence of people of different nationalities, religions, a culture of understanding. It is no coincidence that our holy books, the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’an, urge us all to be merciful and compassionate for the sake of humanity, regardless of our faith,” Pashazade notes.

At a time when the world is experiencing difficulties and struggling with coronavirus, human solidarity and the ideals of humanism are more important than ever.

“Today, during the global viral catastrophe, the inhabitants of neighboring Iran are deprived of the most necessary medical, food and material assistance, while older people and children are left to die in the face of a merciless disease. The Iranian people are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. We ask you to decide on the suspension of sanctions against Iran in the name of humanism and human solidarity, introduce a moratorium on all prohibitions and restrictions during the pandemic, and save the Iranian people from isolation and crisis,” Pashazade notes.

 

12 May

A new Rector of the Institute of Theology has been appointed

Aqil Shirinov

The President Ilham Aliyev has approved the appointment of Aqil Mukhtar oglu Shirinov as Rector of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology.

Aqil Shirinov graduated from the Faculty of Theology of Baku State University with specializations in theology and Arabic language teaching. In 2001, he was enrolled in the Master programme at the Institute of Social Sciences run by the Marmara University in Turkey. In 2003, he completed his thesis on “Islamic Sects and Visions of the Historical Sources” and got a Master Degree.

In 2003, he was admitted to doctoral studies at the same institute and obtained a PhD in Theology.

Since 2008 he has worked at the Faculty of Theology of the Baku State University. He is an author of many books and articles on philosophy and history of Islamic sects and movements.

He is fluent in English, Arabic, Persian, Russian and Turkish, and has published 6 books (one as an author, one with co-authors) and more than 20 articles.

In 2018, A. Shirinov was appointed Vice-Rector in charge of Science and Innovation at the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology by the order of the Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Religious Structures. He is a member of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party.

 

NEWS IN APRIL 2020

3 April

U.S. calls on all governments to free religious prisoners amid coronavirus pandemic

Sam Brownback

 

 

The United States on Thursday called on all governments around the world to release religious prisoners amid the coronavirus pandemic, Turan’s Washington correspondent reports.

Sam Brownback, the State Department’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom, told reporters that he was looking at millions of religious prisoners in China, Iran, Russia and other nations.

“In this time of pandemic, religious prisoners should be released. We call on all governments around the world to do so.  It’s a good public health move for their nations and it’s morally obviously the right thing to do,” he said.

North Korea has a very high number, and “we don’t know how many are in their gulag system that they have, and they would be under exceeding exposure to COVID,” he said. Vietnam has 128 prisoners of conscience that are in prison right now, and we call on them to release those prisoners. Russia has nearly around 240 prisoners of conscience, including 34 Jehovah Witnesses.

Asked whether the governments are using the COVID crisis to single out and target religious minorities, Brownback said “fortunately the reporting that we are seeing is that governments are, by and large, not doing that and in some cases being more lenient towards religious minorities, treating them like people instead of like something to desperately oppose and put down. But that’s just anecdotal information. A lot of our posts are limited on what they can get out and see and hear themselves, so this is sort of the reporting that I get back through informal networks of people.”

“This is – one of the good things going on now, if you can find good things, is that it has really brought a much more united humanity together in recognizing we are all in this together. This is all of us. It doesn’t matter what you believe.  Everybody is subjected to this attack on humanity.  And we’re actually starting to see more relaxing and opening up, and we’re calling for more of it.  It needs to take place.  You need these governments to work with these religious communities – majority or minority or otherwise – to help distribute aid and get information out,” he added.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Azerbaijan systematically violates the freedom of religion or belief.  The U.S. religious freedom body has placed the country on its Tier 2 list of countries for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern” since 2013

Currently there are estimated to be 135 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, according to nongovernmental organizations, and more than half of them are religious activists.

 

6 April

Theologian Faramiz Abbasov has been pardoned and freed

Faramiz Abbasov

 

On 6 April 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev, issued a decree to pardon a group of prisoners. One of them was the well-known theologian Faramiz Abbasov, who was arrested on 24 January 2011, and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by the Baku Court of Serious Crimes on 7 October 2011. He was charged under the Articles 28 (Preparation to a crime); 214.2.1 (Preparation of terrorism, committed on preliminary arrangement by group of persons, by organized group or criminal community/organization); 214.2.3 (Preparation of terrorism, committed with application of fire-arms or subjects used as a weapon); 228.3 (Illegal purchase, transfer, selling, storage, transportation and carrying of fire-arms, accessories to it, supplies or explosives, committed by organized group) and 278 (Violent capture power or violent deduction power) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.

The Azerbaijani human rights defenders considered these charges to be falsified and included Faramiz Abbasov on the list of political prisoners.

 

13 April

U.S. reiterates calls to Azerbaijan to set religious prisoners free

Sam Brownback

The U.S. religious freedom ambassador on Monday reiterated his calls for release of prisoners of conscience during the new coronavirus pandemic, Turan’s Washington correspondent reports.

“We acknowledge and applaud Azerbaijan’s release of several hundred prisoners in light of #COVID19. We call on Azerbaijan and other countries to immediately release all those incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms, including #religiousprisoners, during this pandemic,” Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom noted in a tweet.

The move comes just a week after the Trump administration called on governments around the world to “immediately release hundreds of thousands if not millions of prisoners who have been jailed for peacefully practicing their religion.”

The U.S. religious freedom body USCIRF, which is in charge of forming the list, had previously placed Azerbaijan among Tier 2 countries for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern”.

 

16 April

“You don’t want that blood on your hands” – U.S. asks Azerbaijan to release more prisoners

Sam Brownback

For the third time in less than two weeks, the U.S. religious freedom ambassador on Wednesday called for the release of prisoners of conscience around the world, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, Turan’s Washington correspondent reports.

Speaking to reporters during a virtual briefing organized by the State Department’s Foreign Press Center, Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, emphasized that Azerbaijan has released 176 prisoners as a preventive health measure, adding, “but we call on them to immediately release all of those incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms, including religious prisoners”.

When asked whether he anticipated the Azerbaijani government would release additional religious prisoners, of which the majority are MUM members who have already faced difficult conditions and torture, Brownback told Turan’s Washington correspondent the followings:

“I applauded Azerbaijan for releasing a number of their prisoners and some of the political and religious prisoners that they released.  We are asking and I anticipate they will do more as we continue to point these cases out and the importance of doing this and the fact, too, that these governments don’t want these people to die in prison because of the COVID virus when they’re there for religious or political purposes. You don’t want that blood on your hands, and that’s why we continue to ask them to do that.”

The call for the release of non-violent prisoners of conscience is not unusual in these pretty uncertain times. Brownback’s comments underscored that religious prisoners in countries afflicted by the pandemic are at a high risk of contracting the infectious disease and being left to die by the governments oppressing them.

In the meantime, he added,

“We are seeing some countries release religious prisoners because of the COVID-19 crisis, because of the public health concern, because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s the right thing for their country not to keep people, religious prisoners, in prison in the first place…”

“They shouldn’t be there in the first place, but also and on top of that, in light of this crisis, this is a key time that they should allow these people out who shouldn’t be in prison in the first place, and shouldn’t be then subjected to this worse environment for the spread of the virus within a crowded prison, unsanitary situation,” he added.

“It’s our hope that a number of countries will look at this and say, this is something we don’t want to expose these people to, that we want to let them out.  It is good for our own country’s public health, and that we’ll see more of these religious prisoners being released in the coming days,” he said.

 

25 April

The political prisoner Elshan Abbasov has been released from prison

Elshan Abbasov

On 25 April 2020, Elshan Abbasov, a well-known member of the “Muslim Unity” Movement and a believer from the town of Barda, was released from the prison upon completion of his term of imprisonment. When he left the penal colony No. 16 he was greeted by a large group of believers.

It is not for the first time that Elshan Abbasov has been punished by the authorities for his active work. In May 2011, he participated in a rally of believers protesting in front of the Ministry of Education, when they demanded the abolition of the ban on the hijab in schools. Then he was arrested and sentenced to 2-year-imprisonement on charges of public disorder. Upon his release, he participated in trials and rallies in support of the arrested “Muslim Unity” Movement members. Finally, on 27 October 2017, he was arrested again, no sanction and no witnesses, on charges relating to the violation of the Articles 228 (Illegal purchase, transfer, selling, storage, transportation and carrying of fire-arms, accessories to it, supplies, explosives) and 234.4.3 (Illegal manufacturing, purchase, storage, transportation, transfer or selling of narcotics, psychotropic substances, committed on preliminary arrangement by group of persons or organized group in large amount) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.

On 30 June 2018 the Masally District Court sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.

 

29 April

U.S. Religious Body Pitches Adding Azerbaijan to State Department’s Special Watch List

The U.S. religious freedom body USCIRF recommends Azerbaijan be added to the State Department’s Special Watch (SW) List meaning it engages in 2 of 3 international standards of “systematic,” “ongoing,” and “egregious” religious freedom violations, Turan’s Washington correspondent reports.

The bipartisan commission, created in 1998 to make policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State and Congress about global religious freedom, has been including Azerbaijan on its “Tier 2” list for religious freedom violations every year since 2013.

In its 21st annual report issued on Tuesday in Washington D.C. the USCIRF, instead of using its own “Tier 2” category, decided to recommend 15 countries, including Azerbaijan, for placement on the Special Watch List for severe violations. Other countries on the SW list include: Cuba, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Central African Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and Turkey.

According to the USCIRF, although in 2019, religious freedom conditions in Azerbaijan “trended positively”, as the government largely ceased conducting raids on religious communities and reduced its longstanding practice of detaining and fining individuals in connection with the unauthorized, peaceful practice of their religion or beliefs, as well as pardoned 51 political and religious prisoners, it also continued to exert undue control and oversight over all religious communities and their activities.

“Government officials continued to manage and limit religious practices through the 2009 Law on Freedom of Religion and related articles of the administrative and criminal codes.”

According to nongovernmental organizations, tracking political prisoners in the country, as many as 45 religious activists remained incarcerated at the end of the year. Sardar Babayev, a Shi’a Muslim imam sentenced in 2017 for illegally leading Islamic ceremonies after having received a foreign religious education, remained imprisoned through the end of 2019.

The majority of prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijan comprise members of the Muslim Unity Movement (MUM). A 2019 PACE report highlighted the continued imprisonment of MUM leaders Tale Bagirzade and Abbas Huseynov and noted that they and others associated with MUM had reported being tortured. In response to “unprecedented pressure” in early 2019, Bagirzade and Huseynov went on a hunger strike and were reportedly denied access to their lawyers and families.

“Local human rights activists maintained that the government had targeted and detained tens of individuals in connection with violence in the city of Ganja in 2018 as part of its effort to “start repressions against believers,” and they expressed concern that those detainees were also at risk for torture,” reads the report.

In another major recommendation to the U.S. government, the Commission urges Washington to work with Baku to revise the 2009 religion law to comply with international human rights standards, and bring it into conformity with recommendations made in 2012 by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and the OSCE.

The report also recommends the U.S. Congress to hold public hearings to investigate Azerbaijan’s religious freedom and broader human rights abuses, including its treatment of the MUM; raise related concerns directly with the Azerbaijani Embassy and other government officials; and advocate for the release of all prisoners of conscience.

 

NEWS IN MARCH 2020

3 March

It has been established the Committee for the Protection of Haji Ilham Aliyev’s Rights

Ilham Aliyev

On 3 March there was a meeting related to the arrest of the theologian Ilham Aliyev, the acting Chairman of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA).

According to site Vetenugrunda.az, the following officials participated in the event: a theologian and philosopher, Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, The Chairman of religious public organization DEVAMM; Rovshan Ahmedl a member of the Majlis clergy of Azerbaijan, the editor-in-chief of Maide.az Sheikh Sardar, the Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement for the Freedom of Karabakh; Akif Heydarli, a functionary of API; Eldaniz Guliyev, a screenwriter; Qurban Jabrayil, the Chairman of Azerbaijani Writers Union; as well as functionaries and leaders of the API committees, media representatives, socio-political activists, and believers. The participants were discussing the arrest of Ilham Aliyev and his detention for a period of four months. It was proposed to set up a Committee on the protection of Ilham Aliyev’s rights. Akif Heydarli, a functionary of AIP, was appointed as the Committee Chairman.

Promptly after being established, the Committee issued its first statement condemning the arrest of the country’s renowned theologian and demanded his immediate release

 

5 March

Azerbaijan will limit religious gatherings

Joint meeting of the SCRRO with leaders of religious faiths of the Azerbaijan

Because of the coronavirus, religious gatherings will be limited in Azerbaijan. Such a decision was made at today’s meeting in the Caucasus Muslims Office.

Speaking at a meeting with leaders of religious faiths of the country, imams of mosques and the head of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazade called for the temporary cancellation of religious gatherings.

Taking into account the threat of the spread of the disease, the sheikh recommended the abolition of prayers in mosques with the participation of believers, including commemoration. Whenever possible, believers should pray at home.

The leaders of the Orthodox and Catholic churches, as well as the heads of the communities of European and Mountain Jews supported this appeal.

 

5 March

82 Azerbaijani children from the former ISIS terrorist families returned from Iraq to Azerbaijan

82 Azerbaijani children from the militant organization ISIS families have been returned to Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijani media, it was announced by Ahmed al-Sahaf, the spokesman of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The representative of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry further noted that the number of children of foreign nationalities deported from Iraq had reached 828 so far.

According to the information provided by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior Affairs in the course of a meeting with representatives of the International Organisation on Migration in October 2018, 1. 477 Azerbaijani citizens (1.136 men and 341 women) had gone to Syria and Iraq since 2014, where they immediately became affiliated with various terrorist organisations. 903 of them (749 men and 154 women) are presumed dead or missing.  That information was published in the final report entitled “Study on Vulnerability and Resilience to Radicalisation in some selected communities of Azerbaijan” in December 2021.

When compiling data on local residents from the southern, northern and northwestern regions of Azerbaijan who joined the terrorist organisations operating in Iraq and Syria at different periods of time, 22 people from the southern region headed to the conflict zones, while from the northern and northwestern regions there were significantly more, 201 and 114 respectively. It was noted in the report “Such a discrepancy in the figures can be explained by the fact that extremist ideas are spread along the northern borders (of Azerbaijan). According to the figures provided by the Interior Ministry, 309 people (261 men and 48 women) mainly from Sumgait, Qusar, Balakan and Zaqatala returned to the country.”

 

7 March

The State Committee commented on the closure of mosques due to the coronavirus

Jahandar Alifzade

According to Jahandar Alifzade, the Head of the Department on Work with Religious Structures at the State Committee,

“It has been more than two months since various countries and the World Health Organization allocated quite a lot of funds to combat the coronavirus in Azerbaijan. Since the spread of the coronavirus in Azerbaijan, many measures have been taken to combat the disease. One of them is the application of certain restrictions during large-scale events in the country.”

He said that on 5 March, it was held a meeting attended by the religious leaders in the Caucasus Muslim Board (CBM),

“Along with the CBM authorized officials, the meeting was attended by other leaders of various religious confessions operating in the country. Considering that mosques, churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are places of mass gathering, we are appealing to them to be more vigilant in this regard. In this connection, the CBM recommendations have been brought out to the public through the media in the country. The religious authorities under the CBM have been advised to observe the rules of hygiene for those coming to the mosque.”

The Head of the department pointed out that due to the threat of the coronavirus, it was recommended to minimise the number of mass services and preferably pray at home or in safer places,

“The people with compromised health issues are not recommended to attend temples and during the services they should use their seal, mat and rosary and perform their ablutions at home”.

J.Alifzade remarked that the religious officials of the media would continue their activities in the mosques,

“Once again, I would like to remind you that due to the threat of coronavirus we have recommended people not to visit mosques, places of worship unless it is really necessary.”

 

10 March

U.S. religious freedom body hopes additional prisoners will be freed for Novruz

Azerbaijan has taken some promising first steps in allowing the country’s many religious communities to more freely and fully practice their religion and beliefs, a U.S. government watchdog said, encouraging Baku for further steps, TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports.

“The last year’s precipitous decline in police raids and other forms of harassment of unregistered religious communities – up until recently a hallmark of religious freedom violations in Azerbaijan – signifies an important move in the right direction that we hope the government will codify into law,” Gayle Manchin, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statement on Monday.

Then she added:

“We welcomed last year President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to pardon a number of political and religious prisoners, and hope that additional religious prisoners will be released for the coming Novruz holiday later this month.”

Manchin and her colleague Nadine Maenza, another Vice-Chair at USCIRF, traveled to Baku and Quba in late February to meet with government officials, religious communities, civil society representatives, and human rights defenders to assess religious freedom conditions and discuss the impact of Azerbaijan’s religion law on the ability of individuals and communities to exercise their freedom of religion.

“Azerbaijan has taken great pride in its history of multiculturalism and religious tolerance and should bolster those deserving values by ensuring that religious freedom is truly a reality for all,” Maenza mentioned in a statement.

“Current provisions of the religion law that mandate the registration of religious organizations in order to engage in worship or other religious practices, limit religious activity to a religious organization’s registered legal address, and require state approval for all religious literature should be amended to comply with international standards. Finally, as guaranteed in the constitution of Azerbaijan, the government should adopt an alternative service and permit conscientious objection for those citizens for whom military service conflicts with the tenets of their beliefs,” she noted.

USCIRF will issue its detailed findings from the visit and recommendations for U.S. policy when it releases its 2020 Annual Report on April 28.

U.S. religious freedom body has placed Azerbaijan on its Tier 2 list of countries for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern” since 2013.

 

12 March

It is appointed a new Head of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology

Aqil Shirinov

On 12 March 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on appointing Aqil Shirinov as an Acting Rector of the Institute of Theology.

Earlier, on 9 March, 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree calling to dismiss Jeyhun Mammadov from the post of rector on the grounds of his election as a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

 

13 March

Iraq deported 112 children to Azerbaijan

The Iraqi government sent 112 children to Azerbaijan, whose parents were arrested for having links with the ISIS terrorist organization.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said that on this issue constant contact is maintained with the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Baghdad.

Thus, the total number of Azerbaijani children deported from Iraq reached 248, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry notes.

 

 

NEWS IN FEBRUARY 2020

11 February

The women who carry out the mourning ceremonies will be substituted

Mubariz Qurbanly

Mubariz Qurbanly, the Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Religious Organisations (SCWRO), who had been interviewed by News24.az, stated that there was a widespread belief in the Azerbaijani society that many clergymen tended to be ignorant. Though t should be counteracted. To do this, it is necessary first of all to find out whether this or that person is really a clergyman who has been officially appointed. After all, in many cases, the people taking care of mourning ceremonies have not been formally appointed to that “position”.

Further, M. Qurbanly added that anyone who holds a rosary in his hands and wears a turban on his head should not be considered as a religious figure:

“A religious figure is a person who is officially appointed to the Caucasus Muslim Board. The probability that an imam who is officially designated will deliver ignorant speeches is very low. An imam who has obtained a higher education will never express any view on superstition and ignorance at mourning ceremonies. He knows well what superstition and ignorance mean. And if he knows the Religion perfectly well, then he knows that Islam is against ignorance and superstition”.

The SCWRO Chairman said,

“We recommend that the mourning ceremonies be led by our religious figures officially appointed.”

In conclusion, M. Qurbanly also talked about those who conduct women’s gatherings at the mourning ceremonies,

“At our mourning ceremonies, women gather separately from men. We are thinking of replacing those who conduct the female mourning gatherings by more educated religious practitioners. We should endeavor to have these female gatherings led by well-educated religious persons”.

 

17 February

In Azerbaijan the price for hajj increased by $340

Pilgrims from Azerbaijan

Caucasus Muslims Office officially informed, that the number of believers who wished to make a pilgrimage – Hajj, this year exceeded 100 people. Reception of applications began on January 24 and will continue until the end of May.

The pilgrimage to Mecca will take place between July 20 and August 15. The quota of Azerbaijan for this year is 1,500 people, and the cost of the Hajj per person will be $ 4,490.

Last year, the quota of Azerbaijan amounted to 1,440 people, and the cost of the hajj was $ 4,150.

 

22 February

Sheikh Sardar is released but the police continues putting pressure on him

Sheikh Sardar Hajihasanli (Babayev)

On 22 February Sheikh Sardar Hajihasanli (Babayev), a member of the Mejlis of the Azerbaijani clergy and editor-in-chief of the Maide.az website, was released from custody. According to Vetenugrunda.az, he goy out from the prison #17 at 5 a.m. Considering a large number of people wishing to see the Sheikh, it was planned to hold a meeting next to his house in the Yasamal Ceremonial House. However, as soon as the Sheikh arrived at the place of meeting, the police officers from the Yasamal district intruded to the Ceremonial house and demanded everyone to leave the hall at once. The theologian and the guests awaiting him were forced to obey, and then those who wished to meet him decided to come over to his house.

 

 

NEWS IN JANUARY 2020

15 January

Protest rally of parents of persons involved in “Ganja case”

Parents of persons arrested in the “Ganja case”

On 15 January parents of persons involved in the “Ganja case” held a protest rally in front of the Supreme Court. Dozens of people blocked the road, chanting the slogan: “Freedom!”

“Our children were illegally arrested, and no official wants to accept and listen to us,” one of the protesters told journalist of the Turan Agency.

“Why are we being driven to suicide? Our sick children remain in prisons, which ruins their lives,” said another participant in the action.

The police, pushing back the protesters, unblocked the road.

The protesters said that in the morning they came to the presidential administration, but were faced with rudeness.

“We were told to come without journalists and they would accept us, but we were deceived. The police rudely detained us and put us on the bus. We were sent to the Supreme Court, saying that they would receive us there, but after waiting a few hours, we realized that we had been deceived again,” said another protester.

Parents believe that their children were illegally arrested and charged, which was not proven in court.

“The prosecutor asked us, ‘Why did your children pray?‘ But is this a crime? Our children were so tortured that they still have not recovered from injuries. Three times a month, we give them medicines. For a year and 7 months now we have been on the road between Baku and Ganja. Even the drivers who bring us here are exerted pressure. They are required not to carry us to Baku, threatening us with arrests,” continued the protester.

 

18 January

Yunis Safarov has not been allowed to see his lawyer

Yunis Safarov 

Yunis Safarov, accused of the attempting to murder the former Ganja governor, Elmar Valiyev, was not allowed to see his new lawyer Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in the Baku pre-trial detention centre on 17 January. that was stated by Safarov’s uncle Fuzuli Ismayilov.

Mr. Ismayilov explained that despite the fact that the lawyer had submitted a writ of mandate to defend Yunis Safarov, he had been prevented from seeing the accused.

“Not allowing a lawyer to meet with Yunis is a violation of rights, as for a lawyer as for an accused. What kind of fair legal defence are we talking about? It is a very basic right of any lawyer to meet with a client and this right is not respected in relation to Yunis,” Ismailov continued.

Earlier, while being in prison, Safarov claimed that he had been denied any visits and phone calls with his loved ones for a year and a half right after his arrest.

Safarov’s aunt said that her nephew’s reason to commit an attempting to murder the former Head of Ganja was Valiyev’s “insult” of the Ganja residents.

In his turn, Mehman Sadigov, the Head of the Public Relations Department of the Penitentiary Service, announced on the “Radio Azadliq” that there had been no obstacles for the lawyers to meet with their defendants in accordance with the procedure stipulated by the law.

 

23 January

It is disclosed a number of the registered religious communities

The State Committee in charge of Work with Religious Organisations

The State Committee in charge of Work with Religious Organisations (SCWRO) has disclosed statistics concerning the religious communities that obtained the State registration in Azerbaijan. According to Jahandar Alifzadeh, the Head of the SCWRO, 34 religious communities (31 Islamic and 3 other confessions) were registered in 2019.

Thus, as of 1 January 2020, there were 941 registered religious communities in Azerbaijan, of which 906 were Islamic and 35 communities represented other confessions, including 24 Christian, 8 Jewish, two Baha’i and one Krishna religious communities. It was also announced that 1,021 religious figures were provided the financial assistance in 2019.

According to an official report issued by SCWRO, the provided by the State assistance granted to the religious figures has been increased by 40 per cent in 2019.