Ismail Serageldin: "We do not need Karabakh war - we need peace"

The Global Young Leaders Forum, held in Baku with the support of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, was attended by many influential politicians from all over the world. The director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, co-chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center Ismail Serageldin told Vestnik Kavkaza about the results of the forum and modern processes in the East.

- How do you assess the results of the Baku Global Young Leaders Forum?

- The Nizami Ganjavi International Center has a tradition to organize large conferences with participation of high-ranking people from all over the world, including current and former presidents of different countries. This time a very interesting event was held: we tried to establish contact with the leaders of the future, young people from different countries, whom we consider to be global leaders in their areas of activity. It was a dialogue between generations - between experienced but young in their hearts people and young people, who will gain experience and become global leaders. And this event was very successful. I believe that those young people with whom we have been communicating these days have a very promising future: they can go into business, to the government, to any sphere of life.

- Can the young leaders become those who finally solve world problems?

- I hope most of these problems will be resolved much earlier. We should not leave all the problems to the next generation.

- Do you agree with the opinion of some experts that now there is a war in the Middle East between the civilizations of the East and the West?

- I totally disagree. The is a war going on between Muslims and extremists. At the moment, most of the victims of terrorists in the Middle East are Muslims, and almost 100% of those who fight on the ground against militants in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere are also Muslims. The extremely turbulent situation has spread to the West as well, but if we look at at the scale of the ongoing battles objectively, these are battles between Muslims and extremists. So there is no question of any confrontation between the West and the East. Yes, some say, "You are an ally of the West, you are not a real Muslim," but that's just rhetoric. In fact, there are much more important problems in the Middle East now than the discourse about the East-West confrontation.

- Which of these problems, in your estimation, should be solved in the first place?

- I think that all global players must recognize that we should work with the population and should not ignore the fact that up to 50% of the population in a number of countries have become internally displaced persons. We must strive to find a solution that would bring peace and security to these countries. It will not be easy. Last year I published an article in Newsweek titled 'Crafting Stability in the Middle East', where I proposed a negotiating model and other conditions, which would help us to achieve, if not the best solution, then at least a stable one that will allow people to return to their homes and become ordinary citizens.

- Is this approach applicable to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

- I am convinced that problems like the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and international laws, especially since there are a number of UN Security Council resolutions on this issue. We do not need wars - we need peace, because there is no development without peace, there is no happiness and well-being of people. Security cannot exist without peace, peace cannot exist without judicature, and judicature cannot exist without justice. The best way to achieve this is to comply with UN Security Council resolutions.