Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The third Baku International Humanitarian Forum opened in the Azerbaijani capital at the Heydar Aliyev Center on October 31.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony of the two-day forum.

President Aliyev addressed the ceremony. The President said in his opening remarks that Azerbaijan has been recently holding prestigious international events, summits and international conferences on various topics, and Baku has turned into one of the centers of international cooperation.

The President said that humanitarian issues and cooperation in this sphere unite nations and countries.

"There is great interest in the work of the forum," the President said. "Around 800 guests from 70 countries are participating, and one can say that our guests today are the intellectual elite of most of the world community."

The President underscored that at all times Azerbaijan has paid attention to humanitarian cooperation, adding that this issue is constantly in spotlight.

"I think that our country has gained great experience in this field. Along with political, economic and energy issues, humanitarian issues are being discussed in Baku at a high level," the President said. "I am confident that the discussions and exchange of opinions to be held within the forum will contribute to international humanitarian cooperation."

Holding such events in Azerbaijan is natural because representatives of all peoples and religions have lived in peace, safety and brotherhood here during all periods, the head of state said.

President Aliyev went on to say that regardless of the socio-political system in the country, justice and tolerance have always been observed in Azerbaijan.

"There is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society in Azerbaijan today. This is our great property and value," he said. "We protect and will protect this heritage. The historical monuments of representatives of all peoples and religions are being protected and restored. The ancient temple of fire worshippers has been restored in Azerbaijan. The oldest church of the Caucasus is also located in Azerbaijan. It has also been overhauled. One of the world's oldest mosques, Shamakhi Juma mosque, has been overhauled as well. The mosque is 1,270 years old. That is, restoration, protection of monuments of all religions is the state policy."

The President expressed confidence that this forum has a bright future and this platform of international cooperation will positively affect the positive processes ongoing in the world.

President Aliyev said there is no alternative to multiculturalism in the 21st century.

"The alternative is bias, discrimination, xenophobia, Islamophobia and, of course, in the 21st century we cannot remain indifferent to such undesirable tendencies," the President said.

Therefore, the formation of multicultural societies and promotion of these ideas must be part of the activity of every responsible politician or public figure, he added.

Speaking about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabah conflict, the President said that unfortunately, Azerbaijan faced a humanitarian catastrophe as the country's lands recognized by the international community have been under occupation for many years.

The President noted that the ancestral lands of Azerbaijan - the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions - are under occupation of the invading Armenian forces, adding that more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs in their native land.

"Some 20 percent of our lands are under occupation. All of our cultural heritage and historical and religious monuments have been destroyed in the occupied territories," President Aliyev said.

"International organizations, in particular, the OSCE, sent fact-finding missions to the occupied regions twice. It is clearly indicated in their reports that everything was destroyed. International organizations put forward their principled position on this issue in the documents. Four UN Security Council resolutions call for withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied territories. The European Parliament, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Council of Europe and other organizations have passed similar decisions and resolutions. But, unfortunately, these decisions and resolutions are not fulfilled," the President said.

According to him, it is necessary to raise the issue of the effectiveness of international organizations because their decisions have remained on paper and are not being fulfilled.

Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan's current development attracts more attention because the country has managed to achieve it amid the occupation.

Later, messages of greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the forum participants were read out.

In his message, Putin noted that the authority of such a major international event like the Baku humanitarian forum is increasing year-on-year.

"This time the forum, held under the patronage of the Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents, brought together prominent politicians, scholars and intellectuals from dozens of world countries," the message, read out by Russian President's Special Representative for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, says. "The agenda is becoming more diverse."

According to the Russian President, the unifying nature of the agenda, the common desire of participants to intensify the mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of science, education, culture and art remain unchanged.

"I am convinced that meaningful and useful discussions at the forum, new ideas and initiatives will find their practical implementation," the message says.

Dag Sigurdson, the acting UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, read out Ban Ki-moon's message, in which he greeted all participants of the forum and thanked the government of Azerbaijan for hosting the event.

The UN secretary general said that solving problems in a globalizing world requires broad cooperation beyond borders and across cultures.

"This is an era of tremendous opportunity. Citizens can make enormous contribution to our shaping progress if governments respect rights and empower individuals and especially women and youth," the statement said.

Also, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has sent a video message to the participants of the event saying that the forum has become a great platform for exploring current issues and mobilizing action towards the global humanitarian agenda.

The topics of this year's forum -- sustainable development, science and technology, education and multiculturalism -- are at the heart of UNESCO's efforts to strengthen the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development, Bokova said.

According to her, these are complex issues and altogether they are part of a single global agenda for human development.

Speaking at the event, ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri said that the Baku humanitarian forum will help to establish mechanisms to enhance international cooperation.

"The Baku International Humanitarian Forum, like other world-class initiatives of Azerbaijan, is a true testament to the country's efforts towards creating adequate mechanisms that will expand international cooperation instead of disagreements and conflicts," he said.

During his speech, the ISESCO head also said the leadership of Azerbaijan is committed to working at the regional and international levels to promote peace in the world and uphold tolerance and dialogue as two core universal human values on which to build solid international relations.

He went on to say that this forum is being held at a critical time in world history when conflicts and clashes are frozen in many parts of the globe.

"It is a serious obstacle to both international relations and human development," he noted.

Altwaijri reminded that a part of Azerbaijani territory is occupied by Armenia despite the UN Security Council resolutions and the peaceful initiatives of Azerbaijan.

With regard to the purposes of the forum, Altwaijri said, "We are confident the third Baku International Humanitarian Forum, gathering such an elite class of leaders from all over the world, will keep up efforts to develop practical solutions to consolidate the core values of dialogue, tolerance and respect for human rights. This is the main goal of this forum."

Later, President Aliyev and the First Lady attended a dinner arranged for the participants of the forum.

Then the forum was followed by the first plenary session.

The session was chaired by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. It was attended by former Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov, Serbia's former president Boris Tadic, former president of Latvia Valdis Zatlers, former president of Estonia Arnold Rüütel, Croatia's former president Stjepan Mesic, Romania's former president Emil Constantinescu, as well as Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States Halil Akinci.

Baku International Humanitarian Forum is a high-profile global scientific and political platform for tackling the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, holding dialogue, discussions and exchange of views on a wide range of issues of humanitarian cooperation. It is an annual event that brings together outstanding representatives of political, scientific and cultural elite of the world, including well-known statesmen, Nobel Prize winners in various fields of science and heads of influential international organizations.

President Aliyev and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev initiated the Forum in 2010.

Representatives of natural, social sciences and humanities, as well as the cultural elite of the world who have set the ambitious task of forming a new humanitarian agenda with a view to further considering it on the worldwide scale are the organizers and participants of the forum.

With its rich traditions of cooperation among different cultures, civilizations and religions, Azerbaijan is the ideal venue for holding such events.