Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7
Trend:
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received the delegation headed by Rabbi Marc Schneier, the President of US-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Trend reports citing Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
Rabbi Marc Schneier noted with satisfaction his meeting with H.E Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and said that very fruitful discussions took place at the meeting.
Furthermore, the guests noted the meeting with different religious communities within the framework of their visit to Azerbaijan, which gave them an opportunity to get acquainted with the conditions created for these communities. They also highly appreciated the exchange of views on the sidelines of the international conference titled "Inter-religious and inter-civilization dialogue through cooperation" organized jointly by the State Committee on Religious Associations and the Caucasus Muslims Office.
The representatives of the US-based Evangelical Christian communities, as part of the delegation, acknowledged the importance Azerbaijan is attaching to tolerance and preservation of inter-religious relations, as well as the peaceful coexistence of representatives of various religious communities. In this regard, the guests emphasized that Azerbaijan can serve as a model country.
In his turn, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov expressed his gratitude for the sincere words and noted that tolerance and multiculturalism is a state policy and a tradition of the Azerbaijani people preserved for centuries.
Furthermore, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his interlocutors on the current negotiations process of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and referring to the recent statements of the Armenian leadership highlighted that such statements undermine the peace process. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized the importance of the solution of the conflict from the point of bringing peace, prosperity and sustainable development to the region.
At the meeting the sides also discussed Azerbaijan-USA relations and other issues of mutual interest.