Fifth Baku International Humanitarian Forum kicks off

The 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum, aiming to hold dialogues, discussions and exchange of views on wide range of global issues in the interest of all humanity, kicked off at the Heydar Aliyev Centre on September 29.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended an official opening ceremony of the Forum.

Delivering speech at the ceremony, President Aliyev sincerely greeted all the guests.

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

“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.

President Aliyev stressed that there are many purposes of holding these international events in the 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.

The president further emphasized that Azerbaijan's history is built on multiculturalism.

“Despite that this word is new, in Azerbaijan multiculturalism is a tradition, which lives on,” said Ilham Aliyev. “Representatives of all nationalities and peoples live in peace and friendship in Azerbaijan. This is our big treasure.”

“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. Mosques, churches, synagogues are built and repaired in Azerbaijan. We celebrate all our religious holidays together,” the president added.

The president went on to say 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.

The president further reminded 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. 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.

Azerbaijan has always paid great attention to humanitarian cooperation, the president emphasized.

“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 ethnic 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.

President Aliyev added that all these atrocities committed by Armenians have been documented, while there are video and photo materials and witness testimonies.

“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.

“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. This is while they raze our mosques to the ground. This is the difference.”

The president stressed that Armenian fascism has caused a big disaster and innocent people still suffer from the Armenian policy.

All international organizations unequivocally support Azerbaijan’s position, the president said, adding that regretfully, Armenia ignores all international resolutions and there is no mechanism for fulfilling the resolutions.

“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,” President Aliyev said, noting that 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.

“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.

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

Later, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets hailed the importance of the event. She read out Russian President Vladimir Putin's message to the Forum participants.

“Baku receives distinguished guests, representatives of science and creative intellectuals,” Golodets read out the letter to the forum’s participants. “You are to exchange valuable experience, discuss prospects in the sphere of culture, science and the environment. I am sure that your discussions will be fruitful.”

UN Assistant Secretary-General Ayse Cihan Sultanoglu, addressing the event, read out UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's message to the Forum participants.

The V Baku International Humanitarian Forum has grown into an important venue to exchange ideas on the wide range of issues and promote intercultural dialogue, tolerance and understanding among nations, reads the letter of UN Secretary-General.

This year’s forum is also special for Azerbaijan as the country marks for 25th anniversary of independence, and Azerbaijan has made remarkable achievements since that, according to the letter. “There has seen significant socio-economic development in Azerbaijan since 1991, Ban Ki-moon said in his letter. “The development is helping Azerbaijan to play a very important role in Eurasia, Europe and the Middle East with a growing focus on humanitarian issues.”

Then ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri and UNESCO Deputy Director-General Getachew Engida addressed the event.

The two-day Baku Forum features plenary sessions and speeches of the round table chairs.