Baptists and Baha’is in Azerbaijan have both told Forum 18 News Service of their concerns about buildings, confiscated from them in the Soviet period, which they want returned. Both communities have had evasive replies from the state.
The Baptists want a historic church in central Baku, the capital, back. Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union, told Forum 18 that “it’s not just a property we want to get back to sell—our church wants to worship there once again.”
The Baptists visited the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, but were told that “there is no law on restitution so it can’t be returned.”
The Baha’is fear that a house central to their community’s history may be demolished.
Other places of worship also remain in state hands, but not all the religious communities involved are unhappy with this. Lutherans in Baku, for example, have told Forum 18 that they are happy they can use their church—now a concert hall—for Sunday worship.
Forum 18 News Service