Baku, Azerbaijan, May 19
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
People will travel to Azerbaijan and they will see all the glamour, but they will also see the country of tolerance, French Senator Nathalie Goulet told Trend May 19.
She went on to add that Baku is definitely ready to host the European Games.
"The question is not how to build, building is easy, you have money, you build," she said. "The point is what the aim behind those Games is, why they are important for Azerbaijan. What is behind is to show the multiculturalism of the country, despite it is a Muslim country, that you also have very fruitful Jewish community, and also have Christians."
"All over the world the Christians are now in very bad situation, especially in the Middle East," she said. "You know it is like an island for tolerance."
"Nobody is perfect, but the country is reaching the level of human understanding," Goulet said. "A lot of very important points have been achieved."
She added that women in Azerbaijan gained the right to vote 25 years before France.
The senator said that in the global forum against terrorism, sport is one of the tools against radicalization.
"Because sport brings common values, it is very important to bring people together with sport and it is what will happen here with the Games."
Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
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