Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr S. Aghayeva / In case the US Congress passes the resolution recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide, new destabilization may occur in the world and the dialogue among civilizations can be seriously affected, the president of the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ali Sarikaya said in Baku on 28 October speaking at the international conference 'Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations' held within the framework of the UN Initiative.
US Congress developed a draft resolution stating that at the beginning of the 20th century Turks committed genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Armenians state that over 1.5mln of them were slaughtered then. US President George Bush repeatedly opposed recognition of the Armenian genocide. US Secretary of State and 8 former Secretaries of State also opposed passing of the resolution.
This step by the US Congress can be considered only to be a result of the powerful states' pressure on the Muslim world, Sarikaya said. According to Sarikaya , the attempts to contrast civilizations and religions are basically wrong and they may cause even greater development of Islamophobia in the world. He mentioned the incident with publishing of cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in Denmark. Sarikaya indicated three key ways of preventing development of Islamophobia . Those are establishment of an active network of progressive youth's cooperation, settlement of the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and continuation of the dialogue among civilizations.
Speaking at the conference The Secretary General of the OIC Youth Forum Elshad Iskandarov , the Azerbaijani Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Intigam Babayev , and Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Vagif Sadikhov called to develop dialogue and cooperation. The conference was organized under the patronage of the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, the UNESCO and ISESCO free will ambassador, MP of Azerbaijani Parliament Mehriban Aliyeva .
The West press identifies Islam with extremism and violence and that is the evidence of the fact that today the society needs a dialogue between civilizations, Babayev said.
The decision to hold the conference was made in 2006 by the OIC 'For Dialogue and Cooperation' youth forum and is being implemented through the cooperation with such international organizations as UN Development Program, ISESCO and the Council of Europe (CE).
The second part of the conference will take place on 2 November. Mehriban Aliyeva and the president of Qatar Science and Culture Foundation Muza bint Nasir al Missned , as well the UN Secretary General's high representative on Union of Civilizations, the former Portuguese President George Sampayo , ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri and other high-ranking guests are expected to deliver primary reports. Well-known scientists will deliver reports on history, mutual relations among different civilizations, their political, social and cultural aspects - 'Culture and Relations among Cultures, 'Dangers of Phobias - Islamophobia and Westphobia ', 'Development of the Youth: from Poverty to Wealth', 'Educational Reforms in Muslim World and in the West' and others. Youth will take an active part in the discussions.
The Conference will be concluded with passing of the Baku Declaration on ' Alliance among Generations'. The document will be submitted to the annual 'Global Alliance' forum which is planned to be held under the auspices of the UN in Madrid in January 2008.