Another message from Azerbaijan to radical and extremist groups

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28 By Emil Huseynli – Trend: Global processes taking place in the world have made religion a more relevant topic. Today, even the most developed countries spend big portions of their budgets to prevent religious extremism. The leaders fear the confrontation based on religious factor. It came down to the fact that the European countries can’t protect their citizens from joining the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization and other radical movements, and the heads of these states openly admit it. This means the situation has become so serious that the heads of states are discussing the religious factor as a priority. In recent years, Azerbaijan has paid special attention to the issue of religion and thus it greatly reduced the influence of radical elements on the society. Today, unfortunately, there are radically-minded people and groups who are trying to undermine this balance. Despite the fact that such groups don’t have a social base in Azerbaijan, predicting of danger that can emerge is an important factor. Stricter legislation, strengthening of works on religious education, far-sighted policy of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, and the strategy of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations have greatly contributed to preventing a possible impact of radical religious groups and informal religious movements on religious organizations and mosques. The decree on rendering financial assistance to the Azerbaijani religious communities, signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, is an integral part of this policy. The allocation of 2.5 million AZN from the Azerbaijani president’s reserve fund to the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations for rendering the financial assistance to the religious communities in the country hampers the individuals from the foreign countries to penetrate into a religious family. The purpose is to strengthen the work on religious enlightenment and the promotion of national and spiritual values. The socio-political and economic stability in Azerbaijan hampers the activity of the groups trying to reach instability in this area. In summary, a message was sent for the extremist and radical groups. The people belonging to different religious faiths have always lived in peace and this will continue to do so in the future. In this regard, the enlightenment work and the rule of law are implemented. Emil Huseynli, Trend Agency Azerbaijani News Service head Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency