UNESCO Director General: Azerbaijani President made a significant contribution to promotion of intercultural dialogue

Baku. 5 May. REPORT.AZ/ The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a significant contribution to the promotion of intercultural dialogue in the world.

Report informs, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said at the opening ceremony of the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku.

She also thanked Mehriban Aliyeva, as the Ambassador of ISESCO, for preserving and propagating the Islamic traditions.

"Today, amid growing conflicts and extremism in the world, mosques, churches and historical monuments are being destroyed. Education, freedom of speech are under pressure, hatred for national minorities and religious intolerance growing", I. Bokova added.

According to her, humanity today needs to unite and go through human values and dignity.

She pointed to the use of the soft power of education and culture to reduce the growth of extremism in the world.

"It is necessary to give impetus to innovations, we must learn to respect the opinions of others and people who are different from each other. We need a policy based on human rights", said I. Bokova, adding that the dissemination of information about contribution of Islam to the world culture can prevent an Islamic extremism.