Paris hosted the 38th session of the UNESCO General Conference, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the UN. The participants of the conference paid particular attention to the draft strategy to strengthen UNESCO's action for the protection of culture and promotion of cultural pluralism in the event of armed conflict, as well as the fight against climate change, the International Charter of Physical Education and Sports. The Leaders' Forum at the 38th Session of the UNESCO General Conference was marred by the series of terrorist attacks in Paris and all the heads of state talked about solidarity with the people of France in opposition to terror and violence.
The anniversary of UNESCO gathered distinguished guests at the headquarters of the organization, including the presidents of Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta and Azerbaijan.
"The people of Azerbaijan share the grief of the people of France and stand with them shoulder to shoulder during this tragic moment in the history of the French Republic. These terrible terrorist acts show once again that the international community should work together to fight this evil. No country can be one hundred percent sure that it will not be subjected to such attacks. Therefore, the joint efforts of the international community can help us to combat this scourge. Azerbaijan, as a country which has been a victim of numerous terrorist acts in the past, plays a special role in the fight against terrorism, which is appreciated by the international community," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the Forum.
Azerbaijan joined UNESCO 23 years ago, immediately after the restoration of independence, and has ratified all the conventions and other UNESCO legal instruments. In 2003, a framework agreement on cooperation in the spheres of culture, science, education and communication was signed between Azerbaijan and UNESCO. This has allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the UNESCO donors.
In the early period of independence, Azerbaijan faced poverty, political crisis, occupation and decline in the economy. It was receiving international assistance these times. Today, the country wants to repay this kindness and contribute to the program of development of peace – to education, culture and science.
The number of monuments protected by UNESCO includes the Icheri Sheher, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Maiden Tower, the Gobustan rock paintings. "Azerbaijan is an ancient land of culture, history, customs and traditions. But, at the same time, it is a very young state, which has been independent for only 24 years. These years were a period of transition from one political system to another, from a planned economy to a market one. In these years our country has managed to succeed," Ilham Aliyev said.
One of the most significant political and diplomatic successes of Azerbaijan was its election as a member of the UN Security Council in 2011 with the support of 155 countries. Within two years of its presidency of the Security Council, Baku drew attention to the need for intercultural dialogue and fight against international terrorism.
"In the beginning of the independence period, Azerbaijan became a victim of Armenia's aggression. Armenia's occupation of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan continues to this day. As a result of Armenia's policy of ethnic cleansing, more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were deported from Armenia and subjected to ethnic cleansing, and 750,000 people were displaced from their native lands," Ilham Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan has faced a humanitarian disaster. "Watching TV reports about the migration crisis in Europe today, we understand the pain of people who were forced to flee their homes. We also understand that this process has created difficulties for people in Europe. We remember 1992-1993, when we were forced to place about one million people in Azerbaijan," the president said.
In those days the population of Azerbaijan slightly exceeded 8 million. Thus, it was the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people per capita in the world. Azerbaijan has done everything possible for the integration of refugees and internally displaced persons into society, and today they play a very important role in the development of the country.
Aliyev also said that more than 600 historical and architectural monuments of Azerbaijan were completely destroyed by the Armenian armed forces, including 22 museums, where 40 thousand exhibits were on display. Valuable artefacts, related to Azerbaijan's historical heritage, were stolen from museums and subsequently sold at various auctions. "Armenian occupation forces razed 10 mosques. In spite of this, today in Baku city center you can see the Armenian church restored by the government of Azerbaijan. This is a difference in approach to multiculturalism, a difference in approach to religious tolerance, and it demonstrates once again that terrorism is not associated with any religion, has no national identity," the Azerbaijani President said.
He believes that it's completely unacceptable to associate Islam and terrorism: “I represent a Muslim country, a country which suffered from Armenian terrorism, occupation, destruction of our historic monuments. Of course, we will return to our lands, we will restore our cities, build new schools and hospitals there, but we will not be able to restore our historic monuments. Armenians destroyed our historical heritage, but they cannot destroy our will, the will of refugees and IDPs who want to go back to their homes and the will of their children and grandchildren, who were born in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan, who never saw their historical land. But they live with a strong will in their heart to return. And they will return,” the head of state said.
The President of Azerbaijan said that the Nagorno-Karabakh is a historic land of Azerbaijan, the word 'Karabakh' has Azerbaijani origin: 'Gara Bug' - these words means nothing in the Armenian language. Armenians were settled in that area in the middle of the 19th century. If you look at the maps of the Tsarist Russia of the beginning of the 20th century you will see that the absolute majority of the names of the cities and villages of all the toponymes of today’s territory of Armenia have Azerbaijani origin. In 1918, after the collapse of the Russian Empire the first Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was established. One of the first decisions taken by that Republic was the transfer of Yerevan from Azerbaijan to Armenia. Today’s capital of Armenia is our historic city of Iravan, population of which in the beginning of the 20th century was 80% of Azerbaijani origin. Today, the city is is completely ethnically cleansed. The history and international law support our position."
The 39th session of the UNESCO General Conference will be held in Paris in the autumn of 2017.
