Rome hosts conference on Azerbaijan
By Amina Nazarli
University of Rome Tor Vergata has hosted a conference entitled “Azerbaijan`s history, culture and economy. A bridge between Europe and Asia”.
The event was organized by Classis Project in partnership with the Azerbaijan Council of State Support for NGOs,AzerTag state news agency reported.
Franco Salvatore, Dean of the Universitiy's Faculty of Humanities hailed the fact that different Azerbaijan-related events have been held in Italy in the past few years.
He said such projects opened ample opportunities for Italians to closer familiarize with Azerbaijan.
Azay Guliyev, Chairman of the Council of State Support for NGOs noted the importance of the conference “in terms of spreading the truth about Azerbaijan in Europe”.
“Such events are aimed at strengthening the cooperation and mutual understanding between the two countries and people," he said.
Guliyev highlighted Azerbaijan`s development, saying the country is now playing a crucial role in the South Caucasus region.
He hailed tolerance in Azerbaijan, saying: “people of various religious and ethnic background have lived together here as a single family for centuries”.
Guliyev touched upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying “more than a million Azerbaijanis have become refugees and IDPs as a result of the conflict”. “The government of Azerbaijan is providing comprehensive assistance to refugees and IDPs, but their greatest dream is to return home.”
He also praised the Italian government`s humanitarian aid to the Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs. “Just in a couple of days the people of Azerbaijan will mark the 23rd anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide, one of the bloodiest events of the Karabakh war. The massacre left 613 civilians dead, while 487 people received severe wounds and a lot of people went missing.”
Azar Karimli, Head of Azerbaijan-Italy interparliamentary friendship group praised political, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
The conference then featured the presentation of “A mysterious Azerbaijan” Italian-language portal, which was created in partnership with the Council of State Support for NGOs. President of Italy-Azerbaijan Association Paola Casagrande hailed the portal, saying it will play an important role in promoting Azerbaijan in Italy.
Giovanni Miele, Professor of University of Rome Tor Vergata highlighted the strategic role of the Azerbaijani media.
The conference featured several panel meetings. The participants also watched “Azerbaijan – a model of religious tolerance” documentary.
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