BAKU PROCESS

The international conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Culture: "Intercultural dialogue as a basis for peace and sustainable development in Europe and its neighbouring regions", held in Baku in early December, had many repercussions, both for its scale and importance to Europe and the world at large. This was the first conference of culture ministers of member states of the Council of Europe not confined to geographical borders. Also in attendance were the culture ministers of neighbouring regions and representatives of international organizations.

After a long break, the culture ministers of 16 countries, representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Union, UNESCO, ISESCO, ALECSO and other influential international organizations gathered in Baku to discuss important problems and act to eliminate them.

The holding of such a conference by the Council of Europe is quite significant at a time when local conflicts continue to rage and our historical and cultural heritage is being destroyed everywhere in the world. It is no accident that Baku was selected as the venue for this event - the Council of Europe is not the first international organization to recognize the high level of tolerance and Azerbaijan's leading role in the development of dialogue between civilizations.

"Baku and Azerbaijan are unique places. Throughout history, this country has been a point of convergence for various cultures and a natural bridge between the East and the West, and the North and the South. The current event is special because, in May this year, the Council of Europe created its own "White Paper" on intercultural dialogue. This is the first conference at ministerial level since the preparation of the document on the main laws, and we need to think about ways of implementing them," Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis said at the conference.

On the other hand, the holding of such a large-scale event in Baku showed that, as a centre for major regional energy and transport projects, Baku is also becoming a central link in intercultural dialogue. According to Robert Palmer, head of the Directorate of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage at the Council of Europe: Azerbaijan "is capable of becoming a centre for the implementation of major projects. From this point of view, the conference can be considered to be high-level, while the Baku declaration will certainly become a new stage in cultural cooperation between countries and in the development of global cultural policy."

This factor was also noted in neighbouring Armenia, which refused to take part in the conference. "The Council of Europe and its leadership did not choose the venue for the conference and its title by chance. It is clear that there is some plan to turn Baku into a hearth for dialogue between European and Islamic cultures. This belief is supported by statements by State Department official Alina Romanowski, who deals with issues of academic and cultural exchange, and Russian representative Mikhail Shvydkoy about the necessity of cultural dialogue and the building of bridges (through Azerbaijan) between Europe and the East," reports a correspondent of Ayots Ashkhar newspaper.

The same article says that "the leadership of Azerbaijan did not miss the chance to launch another anti-Armenian campaign. Meanwhile, this was also a good opportunity for the Armenian side but, unfortunately, Armenia missed it". Indeed, why did Armenia miss such an opportunity? Does this not run counter to the statements of the Serzh Sarkisyan administration about their readiness for peace, dialogue and cooperation in the region? Armenia is trying to ensure that Turkey opens its border with Armenia and to establish relations with Azerbaijan. Nor is Yerevan concealing its desire to participate in regional projects initiated by Azerbaijan, and it accuses Azerbaijan from various rostrums of rejecting a full dialogue to restore trust. What is the reason for Armenia's rejection of constructive dialogue within the framework of the conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Culture?

The arguments that Yerevan cited to explain its refusal to attend the conference were absolutely ridiculous. Armenian Minister of Culture Asmik Pogosyan said in the country's parliament that Armenia had not undertaken to take part in this conference in Baku. The minister said that Armenia had always taken part in such events and, having learnt about the conference, it expected an invitation. The minister explained that the invitation was received, but it contained "improper expressions". Moreover, the Minister of Culture said, ahead of this event, a document was proposed which Armenia was not able to accept. In this case, a question arises - why did other countries ignore the "improper expressions" in a standard invitation? Incidentally, even the local media did not understand the arguments of the Armenian Minister of Culture, although she spoke in Armenian. In a separate attachment to the article, we provide a list of questions posed by a correspondent of the Respublika Armenia newspaper.

Meanwhile, the conference was a good opportunity for Yerevan to make another attempt to persuade the world of the alleged destruction of monuments of Armenian history and culture on Azerbaijani territory. It is no secret that Armenia and the Armenian lobby are tirelessly printing various books and booklets, falsifying facts, holding exhibitions and conferences and making films with this aim.

At the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in early 2008, Armenian MPs raised the issue of alleged vandalism of Armenian gravestones - khachkars - in Naxcivan. In order to investigate these facts, the Armenian delegation demanded that PACE send a special commission to Naxcivan. But an appropriate reaction from the Azerbaijani side put the Armenian delegation in quite a difficult position. Azerbaijan consented to an investigation in Naxcivan on condition that the mission also investigated the condition of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia and in Armenian-occupied territories. And, of course, Yerevan could not allow this to happen because Armenia itself has turned into one big graveyard for the burial of all monuments of history and culture. On Armenian territory, there is not a single trace left of more than 500 Turkic-Azerbaijani place names from the Iravan Khanate, such as Zangazur, Goyca, Vedibasar, Hamamli, Calaloglu, Alagoz, Karvansarai and so on. Azerbaijani mosques, castles and graveyards have been razed to the ground. Only some larger mosques have survived, and they are represented as Persian. But this is not all. Today many Armenian websites give Armenian names to such ancient Azerbaijani cities as Ganca, Yevlax, Saki, Samaxi and even Baku. What is more, the so-called historians do not only encroach on the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan. For example, if we believe Academician Suren Ayvazyan, the founders of Kiev and Odessa were Armenians, while the Crimea was called the Armenian Sea in the past. Last year Armenians suggested renaming the city of Lvov, Aruyts (which means lion in Armenian), Budennovsk - Surb-Khach and Rostov-na-Donu - Nor Nakhchivan (New Naxcivan).

After all this, it is not difficult to imagine what they are doing to historical monuments in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and how archaeological excavations will end in the ancient human settlement, the Azix Cave - near Fuzuli District and near Susa Castle - the cradle of Azerbaijani music.

"In 2005 an OSCE fact-finding mission carried out monitoring in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, on the basis of which a report was prepared and submitted. It said that everything was destroyed there and not a single building remained intact. All buildings and all historical monuments were destroyed by Armenia. Hearths of culture were destroyed, all the exhibits displayed in our museums were taken away and the museums were looted. The graves of our ancestors and mosques were destroyed," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the participants in the conference.

With such an attitude towards historical and cultural heritage, Armenia's refusal to take part in the Council of Europe conference on intercultural dialogue seems quite natural. This was also noted by participants in the Baku forum. In their opinion, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan demonstrated its readiness for peace and dialogue.

As for the results of the conference itself, the participants in the forum unanimously signed the Baku declaration and agreed to join international conventions of UNESCO to protect cultural heritage and develop new documents on this issue. Representatives of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the UN decided to boost cooperation in the development of intercultural dialogue. The Ministers of Culture agreed to gather in Baku within the framework of ISESCO next year. According to Director General of Education, Culture and Heritage, Youth and Sport at the Council of Europe, Gabriella Battani-Dragoni, the conference of culture ministers within the framework of ISESCO "will help implement the Baku declaration". Thus, the foundations of a new stage in intercultural dialogue were laid in Azerbaijan.