BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has said that an “undeclared war” is being waged against Islam and the Islamic world, describing Islamophobia as only a small part of a broader campaign.
The Azerbaijani President made the remarks during a meeting with participants of international conferences in Baku.
“An undeclared war is being waged against our religion, against the Islamic world, and Islamophobia is only a small component of it,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
The head of state argued that attempts to discredit the Muslim world, associate Islam with terrorism and insult Islamic values, including the Holy Quran, should not be regarded as isolated or accidental incidents.
“Discrediting and tarnishing the Muslim world, equating it with terrorism, those insulting acts against our values and the Holy Quran — do you think these things happen by chance? No. This is a deliberate policy,” Ilham Aliyev said.
The President stressed that unity should be the principal response to what he described as a coordinated campaign targeting the Islamic world.
“What should we put forward against this? Only our unity,” he emphasised.
On September 15, President Ilham Aliyev received Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev, members and observers of the Council of Heads of Muslim Religious Administrations of the Organization of Turkic States, co-organisers of the Yahya Bakuvi International Conference, and a delegation comprising members of the Supreme Religious Council of the Peoples of the Caucasus.
