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.