Azerbaijan, Baku, October 31/Trend, E. Aliyev/
The list of human values will increase many times if its fundamental concepts are expanded to encompass democracy, free markets and so on," the former Latvian president Valdis Zatlers said.
"The system of values under which various cultures and nations live, can be different and we need to learn and understand different cultures. We face with such differences in daily life. It is very important to know differences between cultures of various nations. For instance, it is often necessary to give a tip, in Tokyo it is considered an insult," the ex-president said speaking at the Third Baku International Humanitarian Forum on Thursday.
According to him, one of the components of human development is identity. Primary identity is determined in family and further, in the process of education, communication, existence in an environment another identity of a man, national identity is formed.
"A question arises: Is it possible to change the identity of an individual, to reduce him to a common denominator? The only experience in this sphere, the Soviet experience, crashed. In this regard, the idea of multiculturalism and higher human values draws attention," he said.
Meanwhile, Zatlers believes that alongside differences between cultures, they have much in common and all - state, religion, society- are responsible for understanding and improving relations between the cultures.
The Third Baku International Humanitarian Forum began at the Heydar Aliyev Centre on Thursday.
The forum is an influential platform for discussing the most important issues of humanitarian cooperation. Azerbaijan, possessing rich traditions of intercultural, civilised and inter-confessional cooperation is an ideal place for holding events in such a format.
The forum is an influential scientific and political platform of an international scale for seeking answers to global challenges to the civilisation in the 21st Century, holding dialogues of a large spectrum, exchange of views and discussions on the most important issues of humanitarian cooperation.
The co-chairs of the forum are the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Officials, former presidents, famous scientists and artists from over 100 countries and Nobel Prize winners are participating at the Third Baku International Humanitarian Forum.