THE STRATEGY OF MULTICULTURALISM

Questions of regional development and cooperation, gender and religious discrimination and other problems of modern society - all these challenges that are extremely topical for today's world were the main subjects of the first South Caucasian Forum that was held in Baku last week. And although in recent years Azerbaijan and its capital have not been accustomed to organizing events on an international scale, the quality of the participants - from incumbent heads of state (the president of the host country Ilham Aliyev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili graced the forum with their presence) to world-renowned figures in the arts world such as Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and the Belgian singer Lara Fabian - does not permit one to describe the event as "one of".

The fact that the well-known Club of Madrid, which includes over 70 state figures with the prefix "ex" from more than 50 countries, was one of the organizers helped to bring together in Azerbaijan several dozen former heads of state and governments from virtually all corners of the globe. The prefix "ex" here is a purely formal one because, as the Azerbaijani head of state noted, the leading politicians and state figures who attended the forum not only have played but will continue to play an important role in international relations.

Specifically, among those taking part in the forum were the former Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis; former Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak; the head of the Jordanian Senate Tair al-Masri; the Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prizewinner Shirin Ebadi and special advisor to the UN Secretary General, Nafis Sadik.  Also among the participants were the director of Alexandria Library, Ismail Serageldin; former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga; former Finnish President Tarja Halonen; former UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor Zaragoza; former heads of state and now members of the Club of Madrid Wim Kok, Jorge Quiroga, Ricardo Lagos, Cassam Uteem, Jennifer Shipley and may others.  

In his opening speech at the forum Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and later other speakers, specified a number of factors pointing out that the venue for the South Caucasian forum had not been chosen at random. In recent years Azerbaijan has been able to significantly expand its image abroad and today this country is known not only as a country of oil and gas and one of the world's leaders in rate of economic growth, but also as an exporter of the ideas of tolerance and multiculturalism. And in this context this forum was by no means its first experience - the Azerbaijani capital has already become a traditional venue for the World Forum on an Inter-cultural Dialogue and the Baku Humanitarian Forum.

"Azerbaijan's experience shows that multiculturalism has a great future and there is no alternative to it. The alternatives to multiculturalism are self-isolation, discrimination and racism. We cannot allow such negative trends to raise their heads in the 21st century. There are some questions which worry and disappoint us. But in this question we must act very precisely and we must be very open. The dialogue of civilizations should not be just a good slogan. It is a need for the development of mankind, the establishment of broader international cooperation and increasing the level of mutual understanding and tolerance. I think this is one of the principal conditions for the development of mankind in conditions of peace," Aliyev noted, welcoming the guests of the forum.

Queen Nur of Jordan expressed her admiration for Baku which, without a second's thought, she described as the "Paris of the East". Among the items on the agenda for discussion, the Queen singled out the humanitarian aspect, and specifically the need to step up the work of women in determining the fate of people missing during conflicts throughout the world, including the refugees that have emerged as a result of Armenia's armed aggression against Azerbaijan.

Indeed, where else should one be discussing the role of women in resolving political problems if not in the Azerbaijani capital where for the first time in the East (and much earlier than the countries of the western democracy) in 1918 women were given equal rights with men, including the right to vote. 

Latvia's former President Vaira Vike-Freiberga also devoted a large part of her speech to the humanitarian aspect of the conflicts from which many countries are suffering. She admitted that she had firsthand knowledge of the problem of forced migrants: during the war her parents were forced to live in exile. "People are suffering from conflicts all over the world. We believe that violence should not be permitted. Proper measures should be taken to prevent violence," she said. The former president stressed the need "to fully restore the feelings of the individual and the people which have been abused by violence". "We hope there are possibilities for change. We must take advantage of them. When I come to Baku I can see that changes are possible," she admitted.

For his part, the president of the Club of Madrid, former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok noted the importance of holding the forum in Azerbaijan where the peaceful coexistence of representatives of different religions and ethnic groups was not a fiction but a normal part of life.  "Staging this forum was a timely initiative. We believe that we can make common arrangements for our future work," he said. 

Further discussions at the forum, which took place in the context of separate sessions and panels, dealt more specifically with problems of the role of society in settling conflicts, questions of drug trafficking, and so on.

"When we are in Azerbaijan we can see a strong, strategically important part of the region," said the former Greek Foreign Minister and member of the Greek parliament, Teodor Bakayannis, who was the moderator of one of the sessions of the forum.

Georgia's incumbent president Mikheil Saakashvili was traditionally upfront and did not hide his admiration for Azerbaijan. According to the Georgian leader, the fate of European security and the freedom of the world are being resolved now in precisely this region. That is why Azerbaijan's stability and development and the calm peaceful conduct of all the political processes is the key to ensuring that everything that has been done in the past few years is not just consigned to history but is taken forward.

Incidentally, at this point Saakashvili made a statement, or rather an acknowledgement of the real state of affairs which was taken extremely badly in Yerevan: "Armenia needs to establish ties with its neighbours. It cannot remain in isolation for long. I am confident that Armenia will be able to enter a zone of stability, but this must happen in the context of political liberalization." The president said that this entry must take place not just in the context of opening a railway to Georgia and linking up with the Kars-Akhalkalakhi railway, but also in the context of achieving a common denominator between the conflicting sides.

The former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi and others who spoke focused attention on the role of society in solving conflicts and noted the need to protect human rights in the face of the numerous challenges facing society today. The participants in the forum openly admitted that in conditions where the whole civilized world was bogged down in economic and political problems, Azerbaijan remains a kind of island of stability, and this country's experience needs to be closely studied.

Generally speaking, most of these progressive ideas which Azerbaijan is currently advocating were expressed in the work of the great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher Nizami Gancavi, who back in the 12th century put forward the model of the ideal ruler, state and society. This is what explains the involvement of the Nizami Gancavi International Centre in the organization of the forum, and also the fact-finding tour of the guests of the republic to the poet's home town - Azerbaijan's second largest city, Ganca - which preceded the event.

A fitting end to the discussions at the forum was an agreement to continue the study of Azerbaijan's positive experience. On the final day of the South Caucasus forum a protocol on future cooperation was signed between the Club of Madrid and the Nizami Gancavi International Centre.