AZERBAIJAN TO SHUT DOWN TURKISH-FUNDED MOSQUE, FACING MORE CLOSURES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.05.2009 20:27 GMT+04:00

Azerbaijan to shut down Turkish-funded mosque, facing more
closures. Azerbaijan is continuing to shut down mosques in a practice
Muslims had suffered in Soviet era. Muslims in Baku will gather to
perform Friday prayer at the mosque that is to be closed. After the
closure of Sehitlik and Diyanet Mosques, now Baku State University
Divinity School Mosque will be closed. Azeris fear other 27 mosques
that have survived during the Soviet period will face the same end.

Hidayet Orucov, who is responsible for Religious Institutions in
Azerbaijan, claimed 27 mosques out of 32 are "illegal" in Old Baku,
and implied these mosques were going to be closed. Faculty and Mosque
began their activities in 1992. Both faculty and the mosque’s costs are
covered by the Turkish Religious Foundation. Azerbaijan had destroyed
a mosque that named after Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) as well as another
one in Petrol island, and shut down Sehitlik Mosque, which was built
by Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs.

A mosque was built on 28 June, 1995 beside the Martyrdom cemetery
erected in Baku in honour of 1130 Turkish soldiers died fighting
withing "Caucasian Islam Army" against Armenian and Russian soldiers
that occupied Azerbaijan in 1918, World Bulletin reported.