NEWS IN JANUARY 2021
8 January
The members of the Albano-Udin religious community visited the Khudavang Monastery in Kelbadjar district
The members of the Albanian-Udin Religious Community, the successor of the Albanian Apostolic Independent Church on the Caucasus, travelled to the Kelbadjar region where they visited the Khudavang Monastery complex. They prayed and chanted Christmas Day prayers at the Khudavang Monastery.
14 January
128 occupied Albanian churches converted into Armenian-Gregorian churches
Gunduz Ismayilov
Gunduz Ismayilov, the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Religious Structures, made a statement that Armenia pursued a deliberate policy towards the historical, religious and cultural monuments of Azerbaijan in the region during the occupation of Karabakh. According to him, the gist of the matter is primarily to erase all traces of Azerbaijan on the occupied territories,
“In order to do this, they have worked a three-way strategy. First of all, they destroyed the Islamic sanctuaries, mosques and places of worship. Secondly, they introduced the Islamic sanctuaries as examples of other nations’ culture. The third direction is the attitude to the Albanian temples, the nature of which had the features of appropriation.”
Further, Gunduz Ismayilov said that almost all 128 occupied Albanian temples, including Khudavang Monastery, Agoghlan Temple in Lachin, Gandzasar Monastery in Agdara, and Amaras Church in Khojavand district had been turned into the Armenian churches.
28 January
It has been revealed how many clergymen had received monthly financial support in the past year
In 2020, 984 religious officials received monthly financial support provided by the Fund for the Promotion of Spiritual Values under the State Committee on Work with Religious Organisations. It was announced by Mehman Ismayilov, the Executive Director of the Fund. He pointed out that 22 non-Islamic religious communities were financially supported by the decree issued by President Ilham Aliyev on 2 June, 2020. It was allocated AZN 100,000 to the Fund.