In an interview with news channel ANS TV, the President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Rovnaq Abdulayev, stated that the Azerbaijani oil giant provided Armenian churches in Georgia with free gas.
SOCAR was instructed by President Ilham Aliyev to “provide all religious institutions in Azerbaijan with free gas,” according to Abdullayev.
“From that moment, all religious institutions, including but not limited to Christian and Muslim places of worship, were supplied with free gas as intended. This is just one of the many examples where our President showed consideration for Georgia and the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia,” he added. “We were instructed to follow this example in Georgia as well.”
“Mr. President wants to see the same kind of tolerance we have in Azerbaijan in Georgia as well. If they enjoyed greater religious tolerance over there, the lives of our citizens in Georgia would improve a lot,” Abdullayev said.
“Therefore, we provided around 440 churches, temples, and mosques in Georgia with free gas,” he noted.
When pressed by the interviewer whether SOCAR supplies free gas to Armenian churches in Georgia, Abdullayev responded positively.
“There must be Armenian churches among them, no?” the interviewer asked.
“Yes, there were Armenian churches as well. We have also supplied them with free gas,” the SOCAR chief replied.
