On February 12, the Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, received a delegation led by Betsy Berns Korn, Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Expressing her gratitude to the Chairman of the CMB for the warm reception, Betsy Berns Korn voiced her pleasure in visiting Azerbaijan with a large delegation. She noted that they are well-aware of Azerbaijan’s rich experience in interreligious cooperation, its atmosphere of tolerance, and its multicultural values. She emphasized that they highly value the opportunity to become acquainted with Azerbaijan’s religious environment on the ground.
The guests stated that among their many meetings in Azerbaijan, the meeting with the religious leader of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus holds a special place. They requested the Sheikh-ul-Islam to speak about Azerbaijan's model of tolerance and to share his thoughts and observations on how such a model could be achieved in other countries around the world.
Sheikh-ul-Islam A. Pashazade clarified historical and modern aspects of Azerbaijan’s model of interreligious dialogue and cooperation. He specifically emphasized that tolerance—including ethnic and religious tolerance—and friendly inter-confessional relations are a vital reality of Azerbaijan; they are a daily way of life. He noted that religious confessions in the country are always together in times of both joy and sorrow, and at critical moments for the homeland. Recalling how citizens of all religious confessions united closely around the state during the 44-day Patriotic War, fighting side-by-side and becoming martyrs for their land, Allahshukur Pashazade proudly stated that the sacred memory of these martyrs of different faiths and ethnicities lives on in the heart of every Azerbaijani.
The Sheikh-ul-Islam further stressed that the tolerant spirit of the people, combined with a multicultural state policy and the wise political will of the state leadership—which provides supreme attention and care to religious and spiritual values—forms the foundation of Azerbaijan’s exemplary model of tolerance. He stated that the factor of the political leader is extremely important. In independent Azerbaijan, the foundation for this example of religious tolerance was laid by National Leader Heydar Aliyev, who brought together the heads of all religious confessions on the occasion of International Tolerance Day. President Ilham Aliyev has further developed this tradition, establishing multiculturalism as a state policy and consistently promoting the principles of human solidarity and fraternity. The Sheikh-ul-Islam added that for interreligious harmony, a high level of state-religion relations and equal care and patronage for all religious communities in the country are of special importance.
Touching upon another critical point—peacebuilding—Sheikh-ul-Islam A. Pashazade noted with regret that while the state and the religious center in Azerbaijan act together toward achieving peace in the region, the Armenian church, contrary to political efforts, leans toward revanchism rather than peace. He stated that this is completely inconsistent with the principles of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and contradicts the ideals of our One Creator.
At the conclusion of the meeting, mutual commemorative gifts were presented.

CMB Press Service

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