Azerbaijani MP: Various nationalities, religions live amicably in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , as a country where representatives of various nationalities and religions live in friendship, attaches great importance to intercultural dialogue, Ganira Pashayeva, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe, said this week.

She made the statement while speaking during the second working day of the PACE spring session while examining a report on intercultural dialogue and inter-confessional dialogue prepared by Luxembourg MP Ann Bracer.

Increased intolerance and xenophobia globally causes serious concern, the Azerbaijani MP said.

"The growth of intolerance and xenophobia in Europe and throughout the world should trouble us greatly. We must analyze seriously the reasons for this. Religious figures and religious communes have a lot of work to do. However, the responsibility of politicians, media and NGOs is also great. If we speak about the European expanse, then we see statements by politicians and political parties in some countries raising intolerance and xenophobia among their people. This process is now seen in different parts of the world. Hostility, intolerance, ethnic cleansing, and wars are realities in today's world," she said.

According to the MP, intercultural dialogue is an urgent global topic.

"Numerous conferences and forums devoted to this problem are conducted in different countries. Though this issue is often on the agenda, regretfully, its influence upon the existing situation is not great. We live a time when the number of those wishing to play on people's most sacred feelings increases. A person who claimed to be a religious figure burned the Holy Quran. We must condemn such phenomena of burning and insulting sacred religious books. One radicalism gives birth to another," the MP said.

The Azerbaijani people have also suffered from these troubles, Pashayeva told European MPs during her speech.

"My people have suffered from these troubles. In 1988, Armenia pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, expelling all Azerbaijanis from their homes in Armenia. No Azerbaijani currently lives there. Armenia conducted a policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis in the occupied lands, as a result of which more than 20,000 people were killed, 1 million were driven from their homes, Azerbaijani mosques were destroyed, and cultural and historical monuments were razed to the ground. We must learn a lesson from such events, and see what consequences intolerance and xenophobia bring, and fight against these phenomena," she said.

Azerbaijan is a country where various nationalities and religions live in friendship, the MP said.

"My country, Azerbaijan, as a state where people of various religions and nationalities live amicably, as a bridge between the East and the West, and the West and the Islamic world, attaches great importance to intercultural dialogue. The World Forum on intercultural dialogue was held in Azerbaijan two days ago with the participation of more than 500 religious figures, politicians, media and NGO representatives, as well as scientific personalities from all over the world. Discussions were held that will make a substantial contribution to the intercultural dialogue. Today, Azerbaijan has become a real arena for dialogue. Last year, our country hosted the Baku summit of world religious leaders. In 2009, a meeting of culture ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference member states and European countries was held," Pashayeva said.


/Trend/