Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon voiced his admiration of the Azerbaijani President.

“I admire the Azerbaijani president and respect his leadership abilities,” said Ban Ki-moon, who visited Baku for the 41st World Scout Conference, Azertac reported.

Ban Ki-moon said that President Ilham Aliyev is taking every effort to preserve peace and stability.

He further added that the scouts from all over the world, who gathered in Baku, will learn of Azerbaijan`s efforts for the sake of humanity, for the sake of global peace.

The former secretary-general mentioned that he visits Azerbaijan for the second time.
“I paid my first official visit to Baku when I was the minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Korea. I well remember that when I served as the UN Secretary General we enjoyed closed contacts with the Azerbaijani mission.”

During his visit to Baku, Ban Ki-moon also met with Deputy Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Valeh Alasgarov.

At the meeting, Ban Ki-moon praised Azerbaijan’s contribution to the establishment of global peace. Saying that he met with President Aliyev during his tenure in the UN, Ban Ki-moon hailed development of Azerbaijan since his 2006 visit to Baku.

“We arrived in Baku to take part in the World Scout Conference. The Republic of Korea will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Scout Movement in 2020,” he said, voicing confidence that Azerbaijan will support Korea`s bid to host the 2022 World Scout Conference.

Alasgarov, in turn, underlined the importance of the World Scout Conference 2017 being held in Azerbaijan, which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its National Scout Movement in December.

He said that despite being a young state, Azerbaijan has great experience in organizing important international events.

The World Scout Conference is being held at the Baku Congress Center on August 14-18.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is the largest international Scouting organization, attracting millions of young people who become active citizens, creating positive changes in the societies in which they live.

The Association of Scouts of Azerbaijan is the national Scouting organization of Azerbaijan and was founded in 1997, and became the member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement on August 20, 2000.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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