India Tomorrow Desk
NEW DELHI—Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has said that Armenians used to keep pigs and cows in mosques in Nagorno-Karabakh when it was under their occupation for about 30 years. Nagorno-Karabakh was liberated recently by Azerbaijani Army through a war that last for more than two months.
He said this while addressing people outside the Aghdam mosque during his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh with his wife Mehriban Aliyeva.
He said that Western leaders were raising questions about what will happen to Christian churches and their places of worship in Nagorno-Karabakh after it came under Azerbaijani control.
He said that these questions were being raised by those people who are shutting mosques in their own countries, insulting Islam and harassing Muslims.
“Who can criticize us? Those who shut down mosques? Can those throwing the heads of killed pigs into Muslim mosques teach us a lesson and express concern? No one should worry, especially the leaders of the Western countries that ignite Islamophobic sentiments, those who have turned a blind eye to the insults on Islam and even justified those who are insulting it. They have no right to talk about it”, he said.
However, he assured that the government of Azerbaijan will protect all religious places in Nagorno-Karabakh as “historical assets” of the country and no one should worry about their safety.
“The savage enemy kept cows and pigs in this mosque. These pictures are available on the internet. They kept pigs in the liberated Zangilan mosque, in the Jabrayil mosque,” Aliyev said.
He said that those worried about Christian churches should come and see for themselves what the “wild Armenians” have done to mosques and Muslim places of worship in liberated territories of Nagorno-Karabakh.
He said that a few years ago, the ambassadors of the Minsk Group co-chair countries-US, France and Russia-visited Aghdam Mosque and conducted fact-finding missions twice. While they informed him(Aliyev) about their visit, they did not raise the issue of desecration of Muslim mosques in areas under Armenian occupation.
“Why didn’t they raise this issue? Why didn’t certain Western leaders express their concern? Does this mean that Muslim mosques can be insulted, cows and pigs can be kept and destroyed? If so, let them say so, let them deal with the problems in their countries and not interfere in our work. Let no one interfere in our work. We have come here ourselves. We have come here in spite of the efforts of all those countries. We have come in spite of all the provocations. We have shed blood and we are standing on our land. Let everyone mind their own business”, Azerbaijani President said.
