BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 3. There has always been a positive intercultural dialogue within Azerbaijan, political scientist Azer Garayev told Trend.
According to him, the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security" is one of the prestigious events held by Azerbaijan.
Garayev noted that the Forum is a very important and influential international platform. Representatives of 110 countries take part in the forum. Azerbaijan's initiative unites intellectuals, politicians, decision-makers, media representatives, and civil society representatives.
"Cultures have merged in Azerbaijan for ages. Our placement between East and West has contributed to this trend. Azerbaijani society, culturally and ethnically diverse, has kept the most essential qualities of tolerance, mutual respect, friendship, and partnership for millennia. Azerbaijanis of all ethnicities and beliefs live as one family. They are valuable Azerbaijanis and sincere, true patriots. Azerbaijan has always had a great intercultural dialogue. In daily lives, Azerbaijanis show it. Azerbaijanis live multiculturally," he said.
He mentioned that Azerbaijan is strongly committed to multilateralism and has actively promoted the values of multilateralism in the Non-Aligned Movement, which has had 120 countries as members since 2019.
"The voices of countries with terrible colonial histories must be heard and not ignored, and new colonial tendencies must be fought. We cannot allow 21st-century European countries to treat other nations as colonies.
The world must not turn a blind eye to the abhorrent practice of neocolonialism, which leads to forced assimilation.
Forced assimilation carried out in more than a dozen French coastal territories is unacceptable and must be stopped," Garayev emphasized.
The political scientist also noted that Azerbaijan ensured peace through war.
"For 30 years, Azerbaijani lands were under occupation. 20 percent of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan was under occupation from the first years of independence until 2020, and about a million Azerbaijanis were refugees and IDPs, the Azerbaijani people were subjected to ethnic cleansing.
The four UN resolutions adopted by the Security Council did not work. Because there was no implementation mechanism. Those who passed these resolutions did nothing to make them enforceable. Therefore, we had to achieve peace through war, and in 2020, we liberated most of our territories as a result of the II Karabakh War," Garayev added.
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