AZERBAIJAN DENIES THE RELIGIOUS COMPONENT

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 12 2007

Azerbaijan has stated for a number of times it is not a religious
conflict, the deputy chair of the state committee for religious
organizations of Azerbaijan Elchin Askerov said in an interview
with Day.az with regard to a recent statement by the Armenian prime
minister.

"It is not a religious statement, and the Sheik-ul-Islam has stated
it for a number of times. By stating the opposite thing, Sargsyan
is attempting to present the situation as a traditional conflict
between the two civilizations, he wants to say that Armenia is at the
intersection of the civilizations, the Christian world is to the West
of it, the Muslims are to the East of it, the Christian and Muslim
cultures clash at this intersection. It is groundless to insist on
the religious component of the Armenian and Azerbaijani conflict,"
Askerov stated.

In view of the logic of the official Armenian propaganda, his statement
will be an additional argument for Yerevan to state that Serge Sargsyan
was right since the Azerbaijanis are denying his words. In other words,
Serge Sargsyan spoke in Armenia’s favor, therefore Azerbaijan rejects
his thesis.