Fri 06 November 2009 | 05:00 GMT Text size:

Allahshukur Pashazade

Azerbaijan's spiritual leader, Sheikh ul-Islam Allashukur Pashazade, has commented on the importance of a conference on religious dialogue taking place in Baku.

“The Baku conference on interreligious dialogue is aimed at bringing believers closer to each other and assisting heads of states and politicians to find peaceful solutions to existing conflicts,” the head of the Muslim Department for the Caucasus, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, told journalists on Thursday.

Pashazade said “the fact that leaders of the Christian, Jewish and Islamic world have come together here is a vivid testimony to the freedom of conscience and tolerance prevalent in Azerbaijan”.

Belarusian Patriarch Filaret thanked the Azerbaijani government for inviting him to the conference and “enabling us to honour the memory of national leader Heydar Aliyev”.

Touching upon interreligious dialogue, Filaret said, "Twenty years ago we started joint anti-war efforts and now we are successfully continuing this mission.”

The conference, Interreligious Dialogue: from Mutual Understanding towards Cooperation, is taking place in Baku on 6-7 November. It marks the 60th birthday of the chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Department, Allahshukur Pashazade, and the 30th anniversary of his appointment as Sheikh ul-Islam.

AzerTAj