The leaders of religious denominations in Azerbaijan have issued a joint statement condemning the burning of the Quran in Sweden, Trend reports.
The statement says:
"In the name of the One Creator!
We, the leaders of the Muslim, Orthodox, Jewish, Catholic and Albanian-Udi confessions operating in Azerbaijan, strongly condemn the burning of the holy book of Muslims, the Quran, in the presence of policemen standing near the mosque on June 28 in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, in which, along with the Prophet Muhammad, the prophets Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Holy Mary. We consider this disgusting incident an Islamophobic provocation and an act of savage vandalism."
Unprecedented showcases of Islamophobia, such as insulting cartoons of the Islamic prophet, and the explicit support of these actions by the head of state, began with France positioning itself as the cradle of democracy.
France, committed to the ideas of colonialism, and today, remaining true to its Islamophobic character, supports aggressive separatism in Azerbaijan, creates obstacles to achieving peace in the region. The actions of a number of unscrupulous persons inspired by the vile example of France - the head of the ultra-right party Stram Kurs ("Hard Line") in Stockholm with the permission and under the auspices of Swedish government agencies, as well as acts of insulting Islam, its prophet, the Holy Koran, committed against all Muslims under the slogans of democracy and freedom of expression in the Netherlands were clearly a call to hatred and were condemned by believers as a moral crime against the beliefs and dignity of people.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, held on July 5 this year in Baku, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said the following: "One of the countries that still is pursuing the neo-colonialism is France.<...> Nearly 1.5 million Algerians were killed during genocidal French rule. Sculls of Algerian freedom fighters still are kept in Paris museum as war trophies. This is cynical and disgusting. We demand President Emmanuel Macron of France to hand over to Algeria the remains of its heroes".
We support these thoughts, as well as the decisions and resolutions adopted by the Non-Aligned Movement. At the same time, we welcome the joint document "On Human Brotherhood for World Peace and for Living Together", signed on February 4, 2019 by His Holiness Pope Francis and the Supreme Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Al-Tayeb, and highly appreciate UN Security Council Resolution No. 2686 of June 14, in which Deep concern was expressed about cases of discrimination, intolerance and extremism caused, in particular, by Islamophobia".
Source: TREND News Agency