R 021102Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0707
INFO ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAKU 000085 
 
 
FOR EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM KISL SCUL SOCI AJ
SUBJECT:  Letter to President Obama from Chairman of the Caucasus 
Muslim Board 
 
¶1. (U) Below is the text of a letter from Sheykh-ul-Islam Haji 
Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasus Muslim Board, which 
the Embassy has been asked to forward to President Barack Obama: 
 
BEGIN TEXT: 
 
No. 022 
 
January 23, 2009 
 
To the President of the United States of America 
¶H. E. Barack Hussein Obama 
 
With the name of God, the Only One, 
 
I would like to congratulate you on the occasion of assuming the 
duties of the U.S. President and I ask God for every success for 
you.  It is true that the world community including the Muslim 
community has faith in you and your activities.  The faith that is 
linked to the hope that we can -- with the help of God -- restore 
and enhance peace and justice, stability and mutual understanding. 
It is clear that people's expectations are high from a great country 
such as the U.S.  The results of the global processes are to a great 
extent dependent on the U.S. and its leadership position and 
approaches.  Everyone is expecting wise decisions and just actions 
from the U.S. leader. 
 
Ideas you have expressed addressing the Muslim world during your 
inauguration gave impetus to our hopes.  As a matter of fact, the 
Muslim world and the U.S. share common interests and that makes it 
so necessary to build new relations based on mutual understanding 
and trust.  As an Azerbaijani citizen I foster the hope of your just 
position in the resolution of the most painful problem for my land 
of origin. 
 
I am confident that your presidency will enter in the U.S. history 
as a new quality stage that will help to increase the esteem and 
glory of the U.S. as well as serve to restore justice in the world. 
 
May God help you, 
 
With respect 
 
     /s/ 
 
Sheykh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazade 
Chairman of the Caucasus Muslim Board 
 
END TEXT. 
 
COMMENT: Caucasus Muslim Board 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Since 1980, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazade has headed the 
Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB), which is located in Baku, Azerbaijan, 
the population of which is approximately 93 percent Muslim (although 
many residents are non-practicing).  The CMB was created during the 
Soviet period, and, in the present day, on behalf of the entire 
south Caucasus region, it organizes pilgrimages to Mecca, appoints 
clerics to head mosques, and monitors sermons.  Along with the 
Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Religious Structures 
(SCWRS), which oversees all religious activity in Azerbaijan, 
including non-Muslim faiths, the CMB is a cooperative entity in the 
overall Azerbaijani government goal of maintaining a strict secular 
system.  As such, Sheikh Pashazade is a very influential figure in 
both Azerbaijan and the south Caucasus region, connected in 
government, religious, and business circles.  While the Sheikh 
represents the Islamic interests of the south Caucasus, he is a key 
element of the government effort to maintain a strict separation of 
church and state.  Though there are several documented cases of 
alleged religious harassment, Azerbaijan is largely a religiously 
tolerant country which has cooperated with the U.S. in battling 
terrorism. 
 
DERSE