NEWS IN DECEMBER 2019
10 December
Abu Bakr mosque
“Abu Bakr Mosque is expected to be re-opened,” Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic on Work with Religious Organizations (SCWRO), Siyavush Heydarov said. According to him, a community will be created in a mosque: ”A problem was revealed in the foundation of the mosque’s minaret. Bending of the minaret created a dangerous situation. Therefore, it is dangerous to gather there. Work is underway to restore or demolish the tower. After that, a community will be created and begin its activities in the mosque.”
We would like to remind that in 2008, two believers were killed as a result of the grenade explosion thrown through the window of the Abu Bakr mosque. The radical Islamist group known as “Forest Brothers” was accused in the attack. But since then, the authorities have not authorized the opening of the mosque, continuously providing a number of various arguments.
The International conference in Baku, 10 December 2019
In 2019, the Baku Office of the International Organization for Migration in cooperation with the SCWRO implemented a project entitled “Enhancing Resilience of Vulnerable Communities” with financial support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The study results entitled “Sensitivity and resistance to radicalism in some communities in Azerbaijan” was presented at an International Conference in Baku on 10 December.
Based on the latest official data provided by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the research revealed that a total of 1.477 citizens (among them 1.136 men and 341 women) left for Syria and Iraq to join the terrorist organizations. 903 of them (749 men and 154 women) were considered to be killed or missing. According to the study, the largest number of Azerbaijani citizens who left for Syria and Iraq were from the northern and north-western regions of the country (201 and 114 respectively).There were only 22 people from the southern regions bordering Iran. “Such a discrepancy in indicators between northern and southern Azerbaijanis involvement in the extremist activities can be explained by the fact that the fanatical ideas are prevalent along the northern borders. According to the MIA data, 309 people (261 men and 48 women) predominantly from Sumgayit, Qusar, Balakan and Zaqatala returned to the country,” said in the study. All those individuals who had returned were subject to sanctions, “Over 110 men who had come back from the conflict zones were brought to justice. The process is currently in progress. About 400 citizens of Azerbaijan who had been engaged in hostilities in the conflict zones were deprived of their citizenship. They are no longer allowed to return to the country. The majority of Azerbaijani women in the conflict zones had been engaged in events. Among those who had been executed or arrested were also Azerbaijanis. Many of them had got married to individuals with undetermined citizenship and given birth to children. The issue of depriving of their citizenship will also be discussed”, as indicated in the study.
The document also states that 270 Azerbaijani children who have lost at least one of their parents are currently in the institutions of detention in Syria and Iraq. And only 24 children have been brought back to Azerbaijan.
20 December
Participants of action, 20 December
According to the agency Turan, on 20 December, while the Baku Court of Appeal examined the complaint of the group of persons involved in the Ganja case, the relatives of the accused staged a protest rally in the courtyard. They protested the persecution of their children on “fabricated charges”, demanding the release of those arrested.
The court of first instance sentenced a group of seven people to a term from two to 20 years in prison. The defendants were accused of complicity in the murder of police officers and the use of violence against them, the organization of riots or participation in them.
28 December
A plate of the SCWRO written in Azerbaijani
The Fund for Promotion of Spiritual Values under the SCWRO was established by the Presidential decree in 2017. In 2019, the Fund for the Promotion of Spiritual Values provided the financial support to more than 1,000 religious leaders who had been officially appointed to the mosques by the Caucasian Muslims Department. It also provided the monetary supports to 22 non-Islamic religious communities. In addition, the Fund financed 71 educational projects implemented by the Muslim religious communities operating in the country.