ArmInfo.Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Development of Civil Society, Issues of Public and Religious Associations Sergei Gavrilov called on Azerbaijan to preserve religious shrines on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and not to close access to them, his press service informs.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, noted the importance of ensuring the safety and normal church life of Christian churches and monasteries in Karabakh.
"We hope that, in accordance with the principles of international law and the protection of the rights of believers, the religious shrines and monasteries of Karabakh will be preserved. Access to religious sites, both to mosques and to Christian churches, should be provided for pilgrimage. Ensuring security and free access to religious shrines, Azerbaijan will demonstrate its being civil, "said Gavrilov, quoted by RIA Novosti.
According to him, now in Karabakh and in general in the territories that go to Azerbaijan, "there is a large number of radical extremists who came from Syria." "I saw the results of the terrorists' activities, especially in the places they captured during the offensive in Syria, primarily in the Maaluli monastery of St. Thekla, where the Christian population was destroyed and monasteries and temples were destroyed. Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran can make the necessary efforts so that the militants leave Karabakh, "the parliamentarian stressed. He expressed the hope that "a model of peaceful residence of the Armenian and Azeri population on the territory of Karabakh and the regions that have ceded to Azerbaijan" will be formed and cited Russia as an example, where "a unique experience of interaction between traditional confessions in the field of education, social service, and defense of the fatherland has been accumulated."