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The reason for the rise of Islamophobia in some European countries is that this thinking spreads from the top down. This means that Islamophobic thinking is indoctrinated into society through the government, says Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan Gunduz Ismayilov during a panel discussion at the international scientific conference on “Embracing Diversity: Fight against Islamophobia in 2024”, Azernews reports.

"For example, in 2019, in France, the number of discrimination cases against Muslims in state-owned service establishments was 369, while this figure was 197 in the private sector. What does this mean? In general, there are specific statistics on Islamophobia in European countries such as France, Germany, England, and Switzerland. For example, there are 2500 mosques in France. The absolute majority of these mosques consist of one room. Local Muslims do not have enough budget to build bigger mosques. And the state prevents receiving help from outside. They perceive this as converting France to Islam. Or the issue of Muslim clothing is a serious problem in France. In France, 80% of Islamophobic thinking is directed at women. The Muslims are also prevented from receiving religious education. This is the case both in France and in a number of European countries," he added.

The conference is jointly organized by the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism, the Center for the Analysis of International Relations, the G20 Interreligious Dialogue Forum and the Baku Initiative Group.

It should be noted that more than 130 international guests including scientists from 30 countries of the world, experts of international organizations, religious figures and representatives of non-governmental organizations are participating in the event.

On March 10, the conference participants are scheduled to visit Shusha, which has been declared the cultural capital of the Islamic world in 2024.

Recall that March 15 was first announced as the International Day of Combating Islamophobia on November 27-28, 2020 at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Niamey, Niger. In 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted March 15 as the International Day of Combating Islamophobia.

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