2017-11-05

Al-Othaimeen Receives Chair of State Committee on Religious Associations in Azerbaijan

On Wednesday, 1 November 2017, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), received in his office at the OIC headquarters Dr. Mubariz Gurbanli, Chair of the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and his accompanying delegation.

Dr. Gurbanli conveyed to Al-Othaimeen the greetings of H.E. President Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and His Eminence Pashazade Sheikh ul-Islam, Head of the Caucasus Muslims Department. He also extended to the OIC Secretary General an invitation from His Eminence Sheikh ul-Islam to attend the final conference dedicated to the "Year of Islamic Solidarity" announced by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2017 that will take place on 21 December 2017. Scholars of Islam and other world religions, as well as representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic corps shall participate in this conference.

For his part, Al-Othaimeen expressed his thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and His Eminence Pashazade Sheikh ul-Islam, Head of the Caucasus Muslims Department, for this generous invitation. He stressed the leading role of the Republic of Azerbaijan in promoting solidarity and joint Islamic action, spreading the principles of peaceful coexistence and mutual respect, combating extremism and terrorism, and preventing Islamophobia by encouraging dialogue and communication between the followers of different cultures and religions, which is consistent with the OIC principles and objectives.

The OIC Secretary General also referred to the tolerance and exemplary relations between religions in Azerbaijan and praised the role of the State and the activities of the Government Committee on Religious Associations. He highly commended the efforts of the Caucasus Muslims Department to achieve this and realize the peaceful coexistence among Muslim different schools of thought, as well as between Muslims and followers of other religions. Moreover, Al-Othaimeen commended the considerable economic and cultural progress made by the Republic of Azerbaijan over the past 25 years. He thanked the Azerbaijani government and people for hosting and organizing the fourth session of the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku in 2017, which was a great success.

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