Day: January 6, 2024

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The US statement regarding freedom of religion in Azerbaijan has no ground, noted the former president of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association (Aziz) Lev Spivak, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Trend.

Spivak said this, following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement about the inclusion of several countries, with Azerbaijan among them, in a “special watch list” regarding the freedom of religion.

“These demarches are just an excuse to prove themselves, to show off in front of someone. I don’t think it carries any real meaning, it has no ground,” he said.

Spivak noted that by his occupation he is always in touch with Jewish communities in different cities of Azerbaijan.

“I am well acquainted with the heads of the communities of Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, and the Ashkenazi community of Baku, with the rabbi representing Chabad in Azerbaijan, the chief rabbi in Azerbaijan. I know the Jewish community of Sumgayit, Red Town (Krasnaya Sloboda). I have met Jews in Ismayilli, which has no community, they just don’t feel the need for it. They live an ordinary life like all the Azerbaijanis around them, Muslims, atheists, all kinds of people. I have met with the Jewish community in Ganja, I know the chairman of the community. And never in all the years that I have been dealing with matters related to relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, as well as issues of natives of Azerbaijan, I have never heard any complaint about anything whatsoever,” he said.

Spivak also shared a story related to the issue, taking place in Israel.

“In 2007 or 2008, there was an annual meeting of the Knesset Human Rights Commission. Representatives of various communities gathered natives of Morocco, France, and Russia. Me and Head of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Israel Yegiana Salman, represented the natives of Azerbaijan. Everyone complained about certain difficulties of Jews in their countries of origin. When it came to us, I said that the difficulties of Jews in Azerbaijan are absolutely no different from those of Azerbaijanis and do not stand out in any way. We have always lived in Azerbaijan without knowing who our neighbors are by nationality, and we have always celebrated holidays of different religions with joy. I have a huge number of Jewish friends in Azerbaijan, they are not looking to go somewhere else, because they feel comfortable in this country. They don’t experience any discrimination or oppression. They are all satisfied with their quality of life,” he concluded.

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Azerbaijan deserves special attention as a country that is a rare example of good interaction between traditional religious communities, as well as an example of harmonious relations between religion and secular power, based on the principle of mutual respect and cooperation, noted Apostolic Prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan Bishop Vladimir Fekete, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Trend.

“Azerbaijan is a modern, secular state that respects and encourages national traditions, as well as the spiritual and cultural diversity of society, and I do not understand on what basis a negative idea of religious freedom in Azerbaijan is formed,” he said, commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the inclusion of a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, on a certain “watch list” in connection with freedom of religion.

Fekete emphasized that Catholics in Azerbaijan always feel support from the state, expressed in concrete actions.

“We often, together with the heads and representatives of the country’s religious denominations, participate in various international events dedicated to issues of interreligious, intercultural dialogue, and I always advise everyone interested in this issue to visit Azerbaijan and clearly see that despite all the pessimistic forecasts regarding intercivilizational and interreligious dialogue, given the good will of society and competent state policy, such dialogue is not only possible, but serves the good of society and the strengthening of the state,” he said.

“We, Catholics of Azerbaijan, are grateful to God that in this country we can freely profess our faith, solemnly celebrate our religious holidays, communicate in an atmosphere of mutual trust and brotherhood with representatives of other religions and serve, to the best of our ability, the good of Azerbaijani society. We always feel the support of the Azerbaijani state, expressed in concrete steps, such as, for example, the financial assistance that President Ilham Aliyev annually allocates to the country’s religious communities. And in all our needs we always meet understanding from the authorities and willingness to provide assistance,” he said.

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Expressing concern about religious freedom in Azerbaijan seems like a misplaced attempt to undermine one of the great strengths of Azerbaijani society, which is religious and ethnic tolerance, said former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Trend.

“My personal experience living in Azerbaijan and working on US-Azerbaijan relations is that Azerbaijan is remarkably diverse and tolerant when it comes to various religious communities. One of the great strengths of Azerbaijan strategically from the US perspective is that Azerbaijan’s society is secular, with an overwhelmingly Shiite Islamic society, but that’s fundamentally secular and therefore is divisive and tolerant,” he said.

Ambassador Bryza pointed out that by being a secular society with a Shiite majority population, Azerbaijan provides a very hopeful example of tolerance and economic development that counters some of the intolerance in Azerbaijan’s neighborhood.

“I was a practicing Roman Catholic when I lived in Azerbaijan. I attended Catholic Mass every Sunday at the Roman Catholic Church in Baku. I also know the vibrant Protestant communities and Orthodox Christian communities, but also, of course, the Jewish community, which is one of the oldest anywhere. I mean, it’s 2,500 years old. I think pretty much all Azerbaijanis are proud of the mountain Jewish population in Krasnaya Sloboda. I know that the Orthodox Jewish community thrives, and one of its chief rabbis once told me that in there is so little anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan. And of course, in terms of religious diversity, it’s not just Shiite Muslims in Azerbaijan, even though they’re a large majority, but of course, there are Sunnis as well, especially I know in northwestern Azerbaijan,” the ex-ambassador added.

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