Azerbaijan has built or restored over 800 mosques since 2003 – official

Photo: Baku City Executive Authority

BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 14. Since 2003, more than 800 mosques across Azerbaijan have been built, extensively renovated, or reconstructed, the head of the Baku City Executive Authority, Eldar Azizov, told Trend while addressing attempts by certain circles to exploit the school uniform issue in order to incite religious tensions and provoke unrest in society.

“When discussing the Azerbaijani state’s attitude toward Islam and religious heritage in general, it is important to rely not on statements, but first and foremost on concrete facts from the past centuries. In our country, during no other historical period or under any other socio-political system were as many mosques built and restored as during the tenure of Heydar Aliyev and subsequently under President Ilham Aliyev. It is surprising when Azerbaijan’s attitude toward Islam is called into question. The facts speak for themselves. President Ilham Aliyev has paid special attention to the preservation and restoration of religious monuments and to restoring the historical and spiritual significance of mosques,” he said.

Eldar. Azizov emphasized that the example of Karabakh is particularly telling: after the liberation of the territories, one of the top priorities was the restoration of mosques and other religious monuments.

“The head of state personally visited the restored holy sites, emphasizing the importance of preserving the country's Islamic and spiritual heritage. This is an indisputable fact,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the introduction of uniform requirements for school uniforms in Azerbaijan has become a pretext for provocative attempts to portray the secular principles of education as allegedly directed against Islam.

By exploiting religious themes, certain external circles seek to distort the essence of the decisions being made, artificially pit the state against believers, and sow division within society. Such manipulations are aimed at escalating tensions, fanning discord, and undermining social stability in Azerbaijan.