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The children of some Azerbaijani high-ranking officials have connections with Salafis. Rafig Aliyev, former head of State Committee for Work with Religious Associations said about this in an interview with Azerbaijani news portal Haqqin.az.

According to him, several MPs of Azerbaijani Parliament appealed to him asking to help them dissuade their sons from that.

“That is, Salafis in that way tried to infiltrate the state apparatus, Army and other state institutions. We knew about that and informed relevant authorities,” Aliyev said.

The former head of the State Committee noted that Salafis are engaged in active propaganda among the Youth in Azerbaijan. Every year more people are involved in their ranks.

Aliyev doesn’t exclude the fact that if the West decides to arrange provocations in Azerbaijan it will use the services provided by Salafis and Nur followers. The Western Intelligence agencies always make a use of religious fanatics to achieve their goals. This phenomenon currently can be observed in Arab countries.

Aliyev noted that Salafis in Azerbaijan are most often financed by Saudi Arabia. “That happens particularly during haji. At the time of haji to Saudi Arabia many Azerbaijani Salafis make contacts with Saudi Intelligence Services; they are recruited, supplied with books and instructions to distribute them in Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus.”

Referring to Azerbaijani terrorists that fight in Syra Aliyev noted that it can result in very dire consequences.

“Those alleged guardians of the faith, Islam, having seen the blood and smelled gun powder, after their return may start to impose their own rules in a very cruel manner. They are recruited by certain mosques in Azerbaijan and then sent to Syria. It doesn’t matter how tight our Intelligence agencies control those mosques, the number of the volunteers that go to fight in Syria will not decrease,” Aliyev noted.

Referring to the statement of Turkish FM, Ahmet Davutoglu that if Azerbaijani Intelligence services give the names of those gone to fight in Syria, they will return them back, Aliyev noted that probably Davutoglu is not sincere in his statement. “He is a diplomat and perhaps he should answer like that. Turkey is well aware who is going and where is he going. In the end, the “volunteers” pass military trainings in the territory of Turkey.”

The former head of the State Committee noted that Nur movement is also actively operating in Azerbaijan; moreover its representatives are involved in almost all areas of the country. “Nur ideology in Azerbaijan has started to spread intensively in Elcibey period and now it is already significantly strengthened. The followers of Nur movement impacted, currently impact and will continue to impact the State apparatus of Azerbaijan. They, as ominous it may sound, are involved everywhere: from the Presidential Administration to Police and Intelligence Service. Here they have their universities, high schools, trade centers, that is, they are powerful,” Aliyev claims.

According to him, there are only few specialists in the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan that clearly understand religious issues and sects. There is a Turkish trade office in Azerbaijan that finances and supports Nur Movement.

“I warned the Minister of Education even back in 2003 that Fethullah Gulen created his extensive network of educational institutions in Azerbaijan. The official answered that they knew about that but as those institutions had highly qualified teachers and were well financed, it was impractical to close them down,” Aliyev said.

Note that according to Azerbaijani media the son of Baku’s mayor Hajibala Abutalybov, Israfil Abutalybov, and the son of the former minister Sevil Zeynalov, Haji Aynut who owe large businesses, provide financial support to Wahhabis and are in close relations with them.