Ilham Aliyev: Education best guarantee against terrorism, extremism, fundamentalism

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18

Trend:

The official opening ceremony for the 3rd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue kicked off in Baku May 18.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended the ceremony.

Addressing the event, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the importance of education in the modern society. He said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to education, adding that the young generation of Azerbaijanis wants to get educated.

The head of state said that education is the best guarantee against terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism and added that Azerbaijan's young generation is very patriotic.

Touching upon the negative tendencies, Azerbaijani president pointed out the dangerous trends of the neo-fascist movement. He added that the leaders of the international community should have a serious attitude to this issue.

Speaking multiculturalism, Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan organizes many international events to promote it, along with peaceful cooperation, mutual understanding.

"Multiculturalism has no alternatives," said the president. "Traditions of multiculturalism have always been very strong in Azerbaijan, the country is one of the positive examples of multiculturalism."

The president further said that sometimes one can see that religious hatred is cultivated, and violence in many parts of the world is based on ethnic grounds, and thus there is need to promote multiculturalism.

Speaking of religion, Ilham Aliyev reminded that today representatives of many religions live in Azerbaijan and contribute to the successful development of the country, which, according to the president, is one of country's biggest assets.

He added that it is enough to look at Azerbaijan's historic monuments to see the cultural diversity of the country.

"One of the oldest mosques in the world, that was built in 743, is situated in the ancient city of Shemakha. One of the oldest churches in the world, the church of Caucasian Albania is situated near Azerbaijan's city of Sheki," he said.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan is proud of its historic heritage.

"Orthodox and catholic churches, synagogues, zoroastrian temples - all that is part of our cultural heritage and we're proud of that."