Taking Care of the Faithful, or a Political Move?

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order << Measures on construction of a new mosque complex in Baku>>.
Aliyev instructed the Executive Power of Baku to ensure allocation of land for construction of a new mosque complex in the Binagadi district.

For the design and construction of the new mosque complex the President allocated from his reserve fund in 2012 initially 10 million manat.

The presidential directive does not clarify who will be in charge of the new mosque complex. As is well known, religion in Azerbaijan
is separated from the state, while the Baku mayor's office will have to give the mosque complex to one of the religious communities after the repair. Most likely it will be the Caucasus Muslim Office (CMO) loyal to the Government.

It is interesting that the decision to build a new mosque complex was taken against the closure of two large mosques in the central part of Baku - Abu Bakr and Martyrs, whose communities are not subordinated to the CMO, in the past .three years.

The decision to build the new mosque complex is apparently concentrated on the improvement of the corrupted image of the Azerbaijani authorities in the Islamic world due to the closure of mosques, persecution of religious people, and restrictions on the wearing of the hijab (Muslim women's headscarves).

This decision should be seen as a nod to the faithful people of Azerbaijan, the number of whom continues to grow. As the experience of "Arab Spring" shows, constant ignoring the interests of this category of the population could have disastrous consequences for the ruling elite. - 06D -