When the United Nations General Assembly passed its resolutions to combat Islamophobia, the global community formally acknowledged what has long been obvious to millions: anti-Muslim hatred is not only real, but rapidly deepening. Azerbaijan, a vocal proponent of multiculturalism and interfaith harmony, has welcomed these resolutions and called for their immediate implementation. Yet the stark truth remains, Islamophobia is no longer a fringe attitude. It is a transnational phenomenon, and in many cases, it has become codified into policy.

As the international conference “Islamophobia in Focus: Unveiling Bias, Shattering Stigmas” convenes in Baku this week, the urgency of its agenda could not be clearer. With scholars, diplomats, religious leaders, and civil society actors from nearly 40 countries in attendance, the event marks not just the third anniversary of the United Nations’ International Day to Combat Islamophobia, but a collective reckoning with a phenomenon that has long festered in plain sight, sanctioned, institutionalized, and, in many cases, willfully ignored.

In his address to the conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave voice to a growing global frustration: “Hostility towards Islam, hatred and intolerance against Muslims, and anti-Islamic sentiment are becoming increasingly widespread and severe.” His words cut to the core of the crisis, a toxic blend of political opportunism, historical amnesia, and strategic hypocrisy in Western capitals, where Islamophobia has not only been tolerated but, in some cases, adopted as de facto policy.

The starkest irony lies in the contradiction between liberal democratic values and the reality of state-sponsored Islamophobia. President Aliyev rightly condemned “some countries that once engaged in the slave trade, pursued policies of occupation and colonialism, and committed acts of genocide, yet now present themselves as democratic countries safeguarding human........

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