Baku: ‘Azerbaijan is a country that has faced – and continues to face – Islamophobia,’ said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his address to the participants of the International Conference themed ‘Islamophobia in Focus: Unveiling Bias, Shattering Stigmas,’ APA reports.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, President Aliyev highlighted the impact of the 30-year-long occupation of Azerbaijani lands, during which the Khojaly genocide was committed against the Azerbaijani people. He noted that the country experienced ethnic cleansing, resulting in over one million Azerbaijanis becoming refugees and internally displaced persons. Nearly one million mines were planted throughout the territory, with accompanying acts of urbicide, culturicide, and ecocide. President Aliyev expressed regret that certain circles in the West, driven by religious bigotry and Islamophobia, have ignored Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani lands, misrepresenting the conflict as a religious one.

The President also discussed the destruction of Azerbaijan’s historical and cultural monuments, including Islamic sites such as places of worship, mosques, shrines, and cemeteries, which were desecrated and demolished during the occupation. Many cultural heritage sites were looted, their purposes altered, and their affiliations falsified. President Aliyev pointed out that as large-scale reconstruction efforts are underway in the liberated territories, the restoration of destroyed mosques and religious sites is ongoing, with some new constructions also taking place.