Azerbaijan’s multicultural values, which have earned the country great respect and prestige both around the world and in the Islamic world and which are distinguished by its principled and fair position, serve as an example to the world. While only 17 mosques were operating in Azerbaijan during the Soviet period, their number has now exceeded 2,200. Today, the continuity and development of multicultural relations are directly rooted in state support. As President Ilham Aliyev noted in one of his speeches, we not only regulate and resolve interethnic and interreligious relations at the highest level within the country, but also set an example for the world: “This is how development should take place. Multiculturalism should be a movement with no alternative. I believe that by setting this example, we are also expanding our ability to influence other places.”

All religious monuments in Azerbaijan are protected and restored by the state. Under the instructions of the President, all major religious monuments have been renovated. The Shamakhi Juma Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in the world, built in 743, has been reconstructed. Christian religious monuments and Albanian churches, including the church in the village of Nic and Kish Church, have also been restored. The preservation of historical and cultural heritage and national and spiritual values, as well as the restoration and protection of religious shrines and tangible cultural heritage sites, remains a constant priority.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, also contributes to the preservation, repair and restoration of historical and religious monuments. It implements projects to restore religious monuments both in Azerbaijan and abroad.

It should be noted that since the beginning of its activities, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has implemented projects and programmes covering various fields in Azerbaijan. The Foundation’s work to preserve and restore historical, cultural and religious monuments is of great importance. Projects aimed at restoring religious monuments and mosques, which constitute a national heritage of the Azerbaijani people, have successfully facilitated the restoration, conservation and reconstruction of shrines in various regions of the country.

Azerbaijan has also launched the repair and restoration of religious monuments in the territories it liberated from occupation. Monuments, cultural institutions, mosques and cemeteries in these areas were destroyed, desecrated, and in some cases subjected to attempts at Armenianization. Approximately 403 historical and religious monuments existed in the territories that had been under occupation, including 67 mosques, 144 temples and 192 shrines. Of the 67 Muslim mosques, 63 were completely destroyed and four were partially destroyed and rendered unusable. The vandalism committed by Armenians who kept domestic animals, including pigs, inside the Aghdam Juma Mosque was witnessed by the entire world.

Among the destroyed religious monuments, particular mention should be made of the Haji Alakbar Mosque in Fuzuli District; the mosques in the villages of Dadali, Merdinli, Gecagözlü and Yukhari Veysalli; the mosques in the villages of Suleymanli and Papi in Jabrayil District; the mosques in the villages of Mamar and Yusifbeyli in Gubadli District; and the mosque in the city of Zangilan, as well as the mosques in Malatkeshin and Zangilan villages in Zangilan District.