Azerbaijan prefers traditions of tolerance, multiculturalism

By  Trend

Azerbaijan’s history is built on multiculturalism, said President Ilham Aliyev.

President Aliyev delivered a speech at the opening of the 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum on September 29.

“The fifth Baku International Humanitarian Forum is beginning. I sincerely greet all the guests who have come to our country to take part in this forum. Welcome to Azerbaijan,” said President Aliyev.

The president noted that more than 400 representatives from around 80 countries are participating in this forum and this itself is an indicator.

The forum has gained great respect on the international arena in recent years and it holds a special place among international events, said President Aliyev, adding that Azerbaijan has always paid great attention to international humanitarian cooperation.
“We believe that positive tendencies should be strengthened in the world,” he noted.

“International cooperation plays a special role in developing interstate relations. For this purpose, we have held a number of international events in our country in recent years. The International Humanitarian Forum holds a special place among them,” said the president.

“Our country holds the Forum on Intercultural Dialogue every two years. Baku hosted the Summit of World Religious Leaders several years ago and the 7th Global Forum of UN Alliance of Civilizations was held this year,” added President Aliyev.

Wide discussions were held and the international humanitarian cooperation, multiculturalism and other important issues were discussed during all those international events, according to the president.

The president noted that in 2016 alone, Baku hosted Formula 1 and World Chess Olympiad for the first time.

“Last year, Baku hosted the First European Games for the first time in the history. This is an indicator, because the First European Games were held in a Muslim country and this can be assessed as Azerbaijan’s contribution to the interreligious and intercultural dialogue,” said President Aliyev.

“Next year, Baku will host the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games. That’s to say, in just two years, the city has hosted the European Games and will host the Islamic Solidarity Games,” said the president.

“Today’s Azerbaijan is moving on this path. There are many purposes of holding these international events in our country. First of all, this is necessary for our country, because, Azerbaijan is a multiconfessional, multinational country. Representatives of all religions, nations live in Azerbaijan as one family. They should even more closely combine their efforts," he said.

In his speech, the president of Azerbaijan said that the country's history is built on multiculturalism.

Despite that this word is new, in Azerbaijan multiculturalism is a tradition, which lives on, said Ilham Aliyev.

He said that representatives of all nationalities and peoples live in peace and friendship in Azerbaijan. This is our big treasure, said the president.

The president also noted that it's no coincidence that this year was proclaimed the Year of Multiculturalism in Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, some say that the policy of multiculturalism has failed and that this is a dangerous phenomenon, said the president.

“Regretfully, currently, unpleasant tendencies prevail in the world. There are bloody clashes, wars in various regions and bloodshed occurs on religious and national grounds,” said President Aliyev. “The intensification of international humanitarian cooperation can, to some extent, prevent those negative tendencies and strengthen the positive trends.”

Further, the president noted that Azerbaijan is a member of the Council of Europe and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the country plays an active role in both of these organizations.

“At Azerbaijan’s initiative, both of these organizations have adopted very fair resolutions in line with the international law on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is the most painful problem for us. Armenia has been indicated as an occupier in those resolutions,” said President Aliyev.

“We successfully continue our activities in these two organizations,” said the president, adding that the Council of Europe and OIC bring together more than one hundred states.

The president pointed out that currently, Azerbaijan as an independent state makes contribution to the development of multiculturalism.
Such events and the policy pursued in Azerbaijan in everyday life strengthen these positive tendencies, he added.

“I would also like to note that representatives of all nations and religions live as one family, in a peaceful and friendly atmosphere in Azerbaijan. There has never been a confrontation or a disagreement on religious and national grounds in our country. This is our great wealth,” said President Aliyev.

“History of all religions, the religious monuments are protected by the state. At the same time, the state ensures the restoration of those monuments with its own funds,” said the president. “Mosques, churches, synagogues are built and repaired in Azerbaijan. We celebrate all our religious holidays together.”

“We are proud of our history and our culture. Today, one of the oldest mosques of the world is situated in Azerbaijan. The Mosque of Shamakhi in the city of Shamakhi was built in 743 and currently, operates after restoration. At the same time, such a historical monument as the Church of Caucasian Albania, which is one of the oldest churches in Caucasus, is situated near the city of Shaki. Currently, that historical monument also operates after restoration and attracts many tourists,” said the president.

“The old monument of Zoroastrianism, the monument, the temple of fire worship near Baku is preserved today. This is our history,” said President Aliyev.

The president added that representatives of various religions and cultures have lived in Azerbaijan throughout history. “Perhaps, it is not accidental that namely Azerbaijan was chosen for living together, because, these tendencies have always prevailed in our country, in our land. This is a state policy today as well and we will further pursue this policy,” he said.

“This state policy is gaining great sympathy in the country. Meanwhile, this is the society’s mood, because, the state policy can be pursued successfully when the society positively reacts to this and vice-versa, the positive mood in the society and the tendencies related to multiculturalism even more strengthen our state policy,” added the president.

The president further stated that Azerbaijan has always paid great attention to humanitarian cooperation.

“But I would like the guests to know that our country itself has faced a humanitarian disaster. Twenty percent of our lands have been occupied as a result of the armed aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in early 1990s. More than a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs on their native lands as a result of this occupation and ethic cleansing,” said the president. “Our historic and native land Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts have been occupied by Armenia.”

“Innocent people were killed and a military crime – Khojaly genocide was committed against our people,” he said, adding that 613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children were killed in the city of Khojaly as a result of the genocide.

“All these atrocities committed by Armenians have been documented. There are video and photo materials and witness testimonies,” said President Aliyev.

The president pointed out that ten countries have recognized the Khojaly genocide.

“Our historical, religious monuments have been destroyed by Armenians on the occupied lands and there are facts to back it up. In connection with this, the OSCE has sent a fact-finding mission to the occupied territories twice and this is openly indicated in their reports,” he added.

“The entire infrastructure, the cities have been destroyed and graves have been razed to the ground. They have destroyed our graves with bulldozers. Our mosques have been destroyed,” said President Aliyev.

“There is an Armenian church in the center of Baku and we have restored that church. Currently, more than 5,000 books in Armenian language are kept in this church,” he said. “This is while they raze our mosques to the ground. This is the difference.”

Armenian fascism has caused a big disaster and innocent people still suffer from the Armenian policy, said the president.

“All international organizations unequivocally support our position. In particular, the UN General Assembly, which is the first and highest international body in the world, has repeatedly adopted resolutions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions demanding the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied lands,” said President Aliyev.

Regretfully, Armenia ignores these resolutions and there is no mechanism for fulfilling the resolutions, said the president, adding that this is a great injustice.

“We consider this as a policy of double standards, because in some cases, the resolutions of the UN Security Council are fulfilled in several days and perhaps, in several hours and the aggressor is punished,” he said. “But when it comes to us, although more than 20 years have passed since the adoption of the resolutions, they are not fulfilled. Those who have adopted these resolutions do not demand their fulfillment.”

President Aliyev added that other international organizations, such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Parliament, Non-Aligned Movement and OSCE have also adopted decisions on this issue.

“That’s to say, all international organizations support our position. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral, historical part of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan in accordance with the international law,” said the president.

“The territorial integrity of our country should be restored. Our country’s territorial integrity is not less important than that of any other country. The international law should be ensured,” added President Aliyev. “Despite this problem, our country is developing confidently and we are growing stronger.”

Azerbaijan today enjoys great reputation around the world, said President Ilham Aliyev.

“The next month we will mark the 25th anniversary of restoration of our independence,” said President Aliyev, adding that most of the years during this 25-year period have been the years of progress and development.

“Today, Azerbaijan enjoys great reputation around the world. A few years ago, 155 countries, displaying great trust in us, chose us as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council,” he added.

Ilham Aliyev went on to say that humanitarian issues get solved in Azerbaijan.

“We attach great attention to these issues. More than 3,000 schools, more than 600 hospitals and medical centers have been built and repaired in Azerbaijan in the last 13 years,” he said.

“The problems of the IDPs get solved, more than 90 settlements have been built, more than 250,000 IDPs have been given new houses, apartments,” added President Aliyev.

Further during his speech, the president said Azerbaijan’s economy is developing.

“In the past 13 years, the GDP has grown by three times. We have large currency reserves and they are equal to our GDP,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev added that serious steps have been taken to decrease unemployment and poverty in the country.

“Today, the level of both unemployment and poverty in the country stands at 5 percent,” he said. “Literacy level stands at about 100 percent.”

President Aliyev reminded that a great part of Azerbaijan’s economy is bound to natural resources.

“Despite a sharp decline in oil prices, Azerbaijan lived through the crisis with very few losses and today the dynamic development continues,” he added.

“Yesterday I was informed that the Davos World Economic Forum has put Azerbaijan in the 37th place in terms of competitiveness,” he said. “I believe that for a young state ranking 37th worldwide for competitiveness is a great achievement given that the first years of our independence were very hard, that there was a deep political and economic crisis.”

He went on to add that Azerbaijan holds the leading places in the world in terms of per capita number of refugees and IDPs.

“These are very painful statistics, but this is true. This of course has drawn our financial resources. Despite all this, the correct economic policy, the peace, tranquility and stability in the society, good relations with our neighbors and our international initiatives today present Azerbaijan in the world as a place of stability and development,” said the president.

“We are proud that we have been living for 25 years as an independent state, we have been living on our own expenses, we don’t owe anyone, we are not dependent upon anyone, we maintain our independence above everything else, our people is free, our destiny is in our hands,” he added.

“We have built a beautiful country and it will be even more beautiful,” added President Aliyev.