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Members of several religious communities in Azerbaijan have expressed concern to Forum 18 News Service over a list of "banned" books, reads the article published on the site of the International Organization Forum 18.

The list of what Baku-based APA news agency described as "some of the most radical and dangerous banned religious books" was published by them on 5 May, three days after President Ilham Aliev abruptly dismissed Elshad Iskenderov.

As the article notes few people were surprised by that fact. The local media wrote that the list was reportedly handed over to Azerbaijan's President Aliyev by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Elshad Iskenderov was one of the leaders of the Nurs.

Members of various religious communities told Forum 18 privately that they are not unhappy to see him removed from his job. They say Elshad Iskenderov did little to help protect religious freedom.

As noted in the article the list – apparently compiled by police based on State Committee "expert analyses" - is not so far known to have been published by any state agency. However, members of several religious communities told Forum 18 that even if the list is not an official list provided by the State Committee directly, it might be used by police to seize further copies of religious publications from individuals' homes.

Forum 18 notes that numerous copies of works by Nursi have been frequently confiscated as "illegal" in raids on meetings or homes of Muslims who read his works. The most recent known raids and confiscations have been in Baku, Goychay and Qazakh in April. At least 11 people have been fined and two men remain in National Security Ministry (NSM) secret police custody under investigation on criminal charges.

According to the article Azerbaijan has long imposed tight censorship on all religious literature produced in Azerbaijan or imported into the country.