The Caucasus Muslims Office commented on some points regarding references to the assessment of the religious situation in Azerbaijan in 2025 in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) “2026 Annual Report”.
Information on this was provided to Modern.az by the CMO.
It was stated that representatives of religious communities living in the Republic of Azerbaijan express their serious concerns and deep regrets regarding the unfounded claims about the religious situation in Azerbaijan in 2025, which are included in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) “2026 Annual Report”:
“Considering the existing realities, we categorically reject the assessment in the report.
The unfounded claims against Azerbaijan in the report, such as alleged violations of religious freedom and pressure on religious communities, reflect the biased lobbying position of certain groups. These claims do not correspond to the realities in the country; on the contrary, they disregard the significant efforts made by our country internally and globally towards promoting religious tolerance”.
It was noted that it is particularly regrettable that the USCIRF report misrepresents Azerbaijan's efforts to repair and restore all historical and cultural monuments without distinction in the liberated Karabakh and East Zangazur regions: “The aforementioned restoration projects are carried out with the participation of experienced specialists and architects, with attention paid to the preservation of the characteristics of all cultural and religious heritage”.
“We expect that USCIRF will reconsider its approach to Azerbaijan by objectively reflecting the situation in our country based on existing facts and realities, and will appreciate our country's contributions to tolerance and its efforts towards preserving interfaith and inter-religious dialogue.
We hope that necessary measures will be taken to eliminate the injustice displayed towards Azerbaijan by its inclusion in the “Special Watch List” in a completely unfounded and unsubstantiated manner”, – the CMO stated.
