​OSCE Ambassador: Anti-Semitism has been virtually non-existent here over the last 2500 years

Baku. 17 November. REPORT.AZ/ Today, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku, the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB) and the National Commission of Azerbaijan for UNESCO co-organized an international conference on strenghtening religious tolerance. Report informs, Azerbaijan's model of religious tolerance and existing challenges in the OSCE area and beyond were the agenda of the conference.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku claimed that the organization had a whole series of commitments regarding tolerance and non-discrimination, fighting anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, discrimination against Christians and other groups: "The OSCE promotes the value of dialogue in building a democratic society. Our organization takes a firm stand against hate crimes and all kind of hate speech across the OSCE area.

As for Azerbaijan, many people would agree that its record in the area of religious tolerance is rather good: anti-Semitism, just give you an example, has been virtually non-existent here over the last 2500 years. From an OSCE perspective, the most important thing is that this positive inheritance of religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence among religious communities is strengthened and preserved for future generations, as Azerbaijan's most precious achievement".

More than 100 participants representing 11 countries participated in the conference.

Various government bodies, Milli Mejlis, the international organizations, religious communities, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as international experts and scientists in a democratic society and a globalized world also considered the role of inter-religious dialogue and the ways of preventing intensive religious radicalization.

The conference is scheduled to last two days.

The UN has declared November 16 as the International Day for Tolerance.