Today at the Administration of the Government of Georgia a meeting between the chairman of the State Agency for Religious Issues Zaza Vashakmadze and the head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Dr. Abuzar Ebrahimi Torkaman has been held. The meeting was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Georgia H.E Seyed Javad Ghavam Shahidi. Zaza Vashakmadze introduced the guest the country’s religious policy and the projects fulfilled by the state in order to promote and develop religion, in particular, the mechanism of financing religious organizations and clarified that it served as a compensation for moral and material damages caused during the totalitarian regime. The chairman of the agency also talked about the interreligious council which provided a dialogue among religions and between the religions and the state. Zaza Vashakmadze touched upon the state of the Muslim community and noted that there had been a unique model of Islam in Georgia - the Muslim community was ethnically diverse, where there was a harmonious coexistence between Sunni and Shia Muslims. This condition was an achievement of the state and could be a role model in the background of the world religious confrontations and conflicts. Zaza Vashakmadze also spoke about financing the Muslim community, as the second largest religion, and about the issue of transferring mosques to them. The state has been working in this direction and had already transferred 160 mosques to the Muslim community.

According to Dr. Abuzar Ebrahimi Torkaman Georgia is the only country in the former Soviet Union where there was no confrontation on religious grounds. Georgia had properly understood the importance of a dialogue and the fact that religions mustn’t be restricted. That’s why it is an example for the whole world. The guest also talked about religious tensions and conflicts in the world and about severe cases when wickedness happened in the name of God – ‘It happens because of misunderstood religious teaching and upbringing” – he noted.  Considering this Georgia is really exemplary.

Abuzar Ebrahimi Torkaman invited Zaza Vashakmadze to Iran to attend the dialogue center event – in Iran a dialogue between the religions had annually been held in which religious organizations from the 35 countries were taking part.

At the end of the meeting the guest thanked the State Agency for Religious Issues for hosting and presented him the book in which the materials of the dialogue between the religions included.  Zaza Vashakmadze gifted the guest with a book “Interreligious Dialogue for Peace” which included the materials of the conference.