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AzerTac (26 May 2025)

“Azerbaijan is a country that has faced -and continues to face- Islamophobia,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his address to the participants of the International Conference themed “Islamophobia in Focus: Unveiling Bias, Shattering Stigmas.”

“During the 30-year-long occupation of our lands, the Khojaly genocide was committed against our people. We were subjected to ethnic cleansing, and as a result, over one million of our fellow Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons. Nearly one million mines were planted across our territory, accompanied by acts of urbicide, culturicide, and ecocide. Much to our regret, driven by pure religious bigotry and Islamophobia, certain circles in the West have turned a blind eye to Armenia’s occupation of our lands, distorted the essence of the conflict, and attempted to portray it as a religious conflict,” the President emphasized.

“During the occupation, our centuries-old historical and cultural monuments, including Islamic sites such as places of worship, mosques, shrines, and cemeteries, were destroyed, desecrated, and razed to the ground. Number of cultural heritage sites have been looted, their purpose altered and affiliation falsified. At present, as large-scale reconstruction efforts are underway across our liberated territories, destroyed mosques and religious sites are being restored, and some are being built anew,” the head of state added.

https://azertag.az/en/xeber/president_ilham_aliyev_azerbaijan_has_faced___and_continues_to_face___islamophobia-3576535