CAIRO- Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmed El Tayyeb met Saturday with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the deep and historic ties binding Al Azhar and Azerbaijan.
During their meeting, Tayyeb stressed that Azerbaijani students coming to study at al-Azhar represent an important pillar in this relationship.
They also discussed ways to strengthen relations between Azerbaijan and Al Azhar.
Tayyeb expressed Al-Azhar’s readiness to increase scholarships offered to Azerbaijani students to study at Al Azhar, in a way that suits Azerbaijan’s requirements, as well as hosting imams and preachers of Azerbaijan to receive training at Al-Azhar International Academy for the Training of Imams and Preachers through a program designed for the nature of Azerbaijan and its future aspirations.
“Al-Azhar is ready to provide all its capabilities to achieve Islamic unity, which is the most prominent challenge facing our nation in our contemporary time,” said Tayyeb.
He added that Islamic unity is the only way for Muslims to regain its position in the new world order.
He also expressed his aspiration for more initiatives and coordination of cooperation between Azerbaijan, Al Azhar Al Sharif and the Muslim Council of Elders, especially with the upcoming United Nations climate conference (COP29) set for the capital, Baku, this year.
For his part, the Azerbaijani President expressed his happiness at being present at Al Azhar Al Sharif and his readiness to boost cooperation between Al Azhar and Azerbaijan to achieve Islamic unity.
Azerbaijan is making practical efforts to raise the level of relations and coordination between Islamic countries, and has also adopted a strategy for rapprochement among the countries of the Islamic world, he said, expressing his appreciation for the initiatives that seek to achieve Islamic rapprochement.
