15:40, 16 October 2007

State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations: no Georgian church was closed in Azerbaijan

Allegations of certain Georgian NGOs about shutting down the Georgian church in Gakha village and exile of the churchman from there have nothing to do with reality, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the State Committee for Work with Religious Structures.

He was told there that the church was never closed, and the priest Joseph Dzambizashvili continues his divine service.

"The assertions that the church was closed and allegedly the priest was expelled from there are incorrect," sources in the State Committee have confirmed.

In his turn, according to the day.az website, Khazar Ibragim, head of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, when making his comments to the information on closing the Georgian church, has stated that there are forces who wish to set up tension in relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

He has noted that Azerbaijan is a tolerant country in all the senses of the word, and churches and synagogues exist close to mosques. "We are not closing churches, on the contrary, new churches are built," he said.

Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent