The concept of tolerance in a liberal society is the balance between human rights and religious freedom. This was the keynote of the international conference "Religion, Freedom and Tolerance", organized by the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Azerbaijani Research Foundation "Constitution".
The conference was attended by local and international experts, representatives of NGOs, religious communities, and government agencies.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation wants to contribute to the development of the free society, democratic institutions, rule of law, secular freedoms, human rights, and effective market economy in the South Caucasus region. "We believe that the successful transformation of the three South Caucasian countries is the basic condition for the development and prosperity of the whole region rather than individual states," said the regional director of the Foundation for Central, Eastern and Southern Europe and Central Asia, Rene Cluff.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation believes that there can be no development in societies where there is a gross violation of human rights and limited public access to the social and institutional infrastructure.
"That is why freedom in the country, economy and society is the primary mission of the Foundation, regardless of religious, cultural and traditional differences," said the regional director. "Tolerance is an important part of the culture. Azerbaijani society respects different religions and cultures. There has never been anti-Semitism in this country," added Rene Cluff.
According to head of the international relations department of the State Committee for Work with Religious Communities Nijat Mammadov, even in remote areas of the country one can see a synagogue through the window of a mosque and vice versa. Sunnis and Shiites pray together in the mosque.
According to him, the Committee carries out a policy of peaceful co-existence of different cultures and religions.
The head of the Research Center "East -West" Arastun Orujlu, noted that refugees from Royal Russia such as Old Believers have settled in Azerbaijan, whose descendants still live in Azerbaijan and profess their faith.
Speakers at the conference also included Lutherans, who live in Georgia and Azerbaijan. There is a small Lutheran church in Baku and Tbilisi, said the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hans -Joachim Kiderlen.
