Mehriban Aliyeva: Baku forum to contribute to constructive dialogue, mutual understanding

Mehriban Aliyeva: Baku forum to contribute to constructive dialogue, mutual understanding
# 27 April 2016 13:53 (UTC +04:00)

Mehriban Aliyeva said she believes the forum will make a valuable contribution to constructive dialogue and mutual understanding.

In some cases some people are isolated from society, she said, noting that people’s adaptation requires different ways in different societies.

“Today I want to share with you my country’s experience,” the first lady said. “Azerbaijan has gone through a period of 25 years, ensuring its economy’s integration into global economy. Reforms have been carried out in the areas of science and culture. This advancement has been made despite the tremendous challenges our people faced in this period of our history.”

Mehriban Aliyeva went on to say that following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan faced huge economic and social difficulties and part of its territory was occupied.

“The Armenian occupation resulted in the destruction of 900 settlements, 693 schools, 975 kindergartens, and 695 hospitals, and more than 40,000 unique museum materials were lost. It’s hard to imagine the damaged caused to Azerbaijan,” she said, expressing gratitude to the UN agencies that stood by Azerbaijan in those times.

Mehriban Aliyeva mentioned that the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding an end to the occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

“In that period, a country with 7 million populations and no resources had to overcome a problem of a million refugees and IDPs. We managed to preserve our most important wealth—the human capital,” Azerbaijan’s first lady said.

Even music school still operated in refugees camps, she added. “In the 1990s, Rastropovich visited Azerbaijan, teaching masters lessons for refugee and IDP children. Schools and hospitals were open. These were the best methods of adaptation.”

Mehriban Aliyeva noted that in Azerbaijan all refugee camps were removed and instead modern settlements were created for refugees and IDPs.

“The younger generation has also gained access to modern education. But this is a temporary cure because if a person is a refugee hardly would any conditions replace his homeland,” according to Azerbaijan’s first lady.

She emphasized that Azerbaijan’s occupied territories must be liberated and refugees and IDP’s must return to their native lands.

Mehriban Aliyeva went on to add that refugees and IDPs were not only subjected to physical losses, but also to moral damage.

“We should try to avoid any more conflicts in the world. Charity should be the real way to get rid of human suffering,” she underlined.

Mehriban Aliyeva, as the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, also spoke about the projects implemented by the foundation.

“In 2005, we started a major overhaul of schools and created a model of cooperation among NGOs, states and companies, as a result of which 3,000 out of 5,000 schools were overhauled,” she said.

In addition, within the framework of the projects carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a number of buildings were constructed for children deprived of parental care, the first lady noted.

At present, there are 570,000 disabled people in Azerbaijan and 67,000 of them are children, she said, noting that those people are faced with a problem when integrating into society.

According to her, inclusive education is very important to integrate disabled children into society. “Currently, 366 children with disabilities are getting inclusive education,” she added.

Mehriban Aliyeva said that a modern ICT center for blind children to access to information technologies was created in Azerbaijan, noting that a similar project was also carried out in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Moreover, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation sponsored the construction of the Catholic Church in Hungary and the repair of ancient catacombs in Rome, she added. “We are also involved in the restoration of holy places in France. We participated in the opening of the Islamic Cultural Center in Louvre.”

Mehriban Aliyeva stressed that tolerance and multiculturalism are a way of life in Azerbaijan.

“Various religious communities coexist in Azerbaijan. One of the most important achievements is the high social tolerance in Azerbaijani society. We are very optimistic about the future when looking back at our successes and achievements,” she concluded, citing famous scientist Albert Einstein’s saying “The life of the individual has meaning only in so far as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful”.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED