The Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board (CMB), Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, was received at the UN Headquarters by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, as part of his visit to the USA.

It was noted that Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade is the first religious leader received at the UN Headquarters by Mr. António Guterres during his almost 9-year tenure as UN Secretary-General.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Sheikhulislam conveyed the greetings of the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, to the UN Secretary-General, expressing his deep satisfaction with the sincere relationship between Mr. António Guterres and the Azerbaijani Head of State, especially with the cordial meeting that recently took place between the two leaders within the framework of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The CMB Chairman expressed his deep satisfaction with the recent signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace protocol at the White House under the leadership of the US President, noting that the UN Secretary-General's efforts were extremely effective in establishing peace and expressing his deep gratitude to Mr. Guterres on behalf of Azerbaijani believers and on his own behalf for this.

The CMB Chairman noted that in the current situation where the political leaderships of Azerbaijan and Armenia are striving towards peacebuilding in an atmosphere of constructive cooperation, the Armenian Church and the Armenian diaspora are carrying out destructive propaganda with all their might to disrupt this process: "Religious figures always call for peace. But as the political leaderships of the two countries take steps towards peace, we see that the Armenian Church is making calls for revanchism and new confrontation."

"This is unacceptable," responded Mr. Guterres.

The CMB Chairman informed the UN Secretary-General about the large-scale restoration process of all religious and cultural sites in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, regardless of their origin.

Following this, Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade provided information about the unique environment of interreligious cooperation and interfaith understanding existing in Azerbaijan, and the high level of state-religion relations. The CMB Chairman drew the UN Secretary-General's attention to the successful model of understanding among different confessions in Azerbaijan being accepted as an example in the Islamic world, and informed him that a significant event dedicated to intra-Islamic dialogue and the fight against Islamophobia would be held in Azerbaijan next year, co-organized by the Muslim Council of Elders and the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and invited Mr. Guterres to this event.

Mr. Guterres, in turn, invited the CMB Chairman to participate in the next Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, which will be held in Saudi Arabia in December of this year. The Sheikhulislam expressed his desire to see Mr. Guterres in Azerbaijan and show him deserving hospitality. The UN Secretary-General noted that he had visited Azerbaijan several times before when he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, that he had the most pleasant impressions of our country, and that he would be pleased to be there again.

Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade noted that the Board he leads is in close cooperation with the UN Alliance of Civilizations and expressed his gratitude to Mr. M. Moratinos for this, adding that he is determined to continue this cooperation in the future.

Mr. A. Guterres stated that he was aware of the CMB Chairman's extensive activities aimed at interreligious and inter-civilizational dialogue and cooperation on a global scale and that they were ready to support all of the Sheikhulislam's initiatives on the UN platform.

The meeting was attended by the UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Combating Islamophobia, M. Moratinos, Executive Director of the Baku International Multiculturalism Center Ravan Hasanov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to the USA Khazar Ibrahim, and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Tofig Musayev.

CMB Press Service

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