Azerbaijani President: In the center of Baku, there is an Armenian church which has been restored by us and protected by our government, but our mosques on the occupied territories have been destroyed.

“No, religion is separated from the state,” said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in response to the question “You don’t take religion into account when you do projects?” in his interview with the French Le Figaro newspaper, APA reports.

“We respect our religion, we respect religions of all other nationalities who live in Azerbaijan. And I think the best indicator of religious harmony in Azerbaijan would be the words of His Holiness, head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis. When he was in Baku several years ago, he made a public statement highly praising Azerbaijan’s role in intercultural and interreligious dialogue. All the representatives of different religions in Azerbaijan live in peace and harmony, including Armenians. In the center of Baku, there is an Armenian church which has been restored by us and protected by our government. But our mosques on the occupied territories have been destroyed. And Armenians keep pigs in our mosques. Just recent videos were on internet. In Zangilan region, after liberation of one village, it was on internet how pigs walk in our mosque. So, Azerbaijan is a tolerant and a secular country and will continue to be like that in the future,” stressed the President.