A/HRC/4/21/Add.2 page 6 II. HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND 16. Azerbaijan was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for 70 years before regaining its independence in 1991. The dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region is one of the remnants of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The largely Armenian population of the region stated its intention to become a sovereign State separate from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s and was supported by Armenia. The armed conflict that followed continued until a ceasefire that was signed in 1994. However, in addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, 16 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory remains occupied by Armenian forces and there are some 760,000 internally displaced people in the country. 17. The Government of Azerbaijan consists of three branches, the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The last parliamentary elections, held in 2005, returned a unicameral parliament with 125 members, all of whom are elected from territorial districts. All branches of Government are under strong influence of the office of the President. The current President is Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father, Heydar Aliyev, who was the State’s President for several successive terms until 2003. III. RELIGION AND BELIEF IN AZERBAIJAN 18. Approximately 96 per cent of the population of Azerbaijan is of the Muslim faith. However, the Special Rapporteur has noted that an important portion of Azerbaijanis has a dispassionate attitude towards religion. This has led some observers to consider that the level of religiosity in Azerbaijan is not very high, an atmosphere that is probably influenced by historical reasons and the secular character of the State of Azerbaijan. 19. This relaxed attitude towards religion is also favourable to a climate of religious harmony and tolerance. Although intolerance and sometimes hatred vis-à-vis small, recent and unknown religious communities, which is fuelled by some sections of the media, emerges occasionally and in some places, the majority of the population of Azerbaijan is tolerant when it comes to religion, and inter-religious violence is uncommon. 20. The Muslim community is 70 per cent Shia and 30 per cent Sunni but the sectarian differences between the two groups have rarely caused tension. 21. The main institutional body for the Muslim community is the Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB). In the early 1980s, Haji Allahshukur Hummatoglu Pashazade was appointed Sheikhulislam, Head of the Muslim Board. With the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Muslim Board became known as the Supreme Religious Council of the Caucasus Peoples. Subsequently, Sheikhulislam continued to carry out his functions under CMB, the main body regulating celestial affairs of Muslims. CMB has a semi-autonomous status and deals with the appointment of imams, prior approval for the registration of Muslim communities, building of mosques, matters connected with pilgrimage and other religious concerns.