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different faiths enjoy peaceful coexistence and live with mutual

respect for each other; and they have done so for centuries.

Azerbaijan was home to one of the world’s earliest Christian

communities. This community helped to shape the coun-

try’s history through the ages and remains an important and

vibrant part of Azerbaijani culture and society today.

Living alongside the Christian and Muslim communities is

a thriving Jewish community of about 30,000 which also has

a long heritage in Azerbaijan, dating back over 2,000 years.

When, over the centuries, Jews in the surrounding regions

were persecuted, they found Azerbaijan to be a haven. The

Jewish community, though small, has been an integral part of

Azerbaijan’s economic, cultural and political life, and today

synagogues and Jewish schools flourish in the country.

The threemajor religions have prospered because of the age-old

respect and tolerance of the Azerbaijani people, who pride them-

selves on peaceful coexistence. But as experience in different

parts of the world shows, social tolerance is a necessary but not

sufficient condition. Communities can achieve even more with

the active support of state actors; of government that promotes

tolerance and resists sectarianism. In this way we can begin to see

a vision of shared security in which all sections of society– state

and non-state actors –commit themselves to create positive rela-

tions within and between communities. Traditionally the notion

of security has been dominated by the discourse of peace and

war – where the military overshadows personal security. Here,

one nation’s security is often at the expense of another. But we

are interested in more than that: our work has been focused on

promoting dialogue, and as a result a stronger understanding of

our common insecurities and vulnerabilities.

The Government of Azerbaijan has promoted this approach

to shared security by creating an environment that nurtures

and promotes the ancient traditions of tolerance and rejects

radicalism, extremism and hatred. Azerbaijan sees diversity

as one of the country’s great strengths and virtues, and has

worked to ensure that this diversity continues to blossom. The

Government has built and rebuilt synagogues, mosques and

churches; created new cultural centres for different faiths; and

financially supported all three religions without discrimination.

Over the last decade, the Government has repeatedly and

proactively brought together political, cultural and religious

leaders from the region and around the world to promote

intercultural and interfaith dialogue – an example which is

sorely needed in today’s world.

With this commitment and with Azerbaijan at the crossroads

of different cultures and civilizations, Ilham Aliyev, President

of the Republic of Azerbaijan initiated the Baku Process for the

promotion of intercultural dialogue in 2008. The Baku Process

comprises an open and respectful exchange of views between

individuals and groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious

and linguistic backgrounds and heritage living on different

continents, on the basis of mutual understanding and respect.

The Baku Process was launched at the Conference of

Ministers Responsible for Culture in Baku, 2008 on the theme of

‘Intercultural dialogue as a basis for peace and sustainable devel-

opment in Europe and its neighbouring regions’. The conference

was organized in partnership with the Council of Europe and

placed emphasis on the importance of dialogue among cultures

and civilizations as an essential reality of today’s world. This

event was the first of its kind, bringing together ministers of

culture from the Council of Europe and a number of Muslim

countries to enable another major step in the development of

dialogue and mutual understanding in the globalized world.

The conference highlighted the vital role of cultural policy

and action in promoting understanding among different

regions and cultures. It provided a great opportunity to launch

the Baku Process as a sustainable platform that will sponsor

future high-level and practice-oriented meetings between key

policymakers and practitioners in Europe and its neighbour-

ing regions on initiatives related to intercultural dialogue.

Representatives of the 49 member states of the European

Cultural Convention, the Council of Europe bodies, selected

Image: Min. of Culture & Tourism, Azerbaijan

The World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku in 2011 established a fully-functioning international forum in Azerbaijan

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