On September 26, the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of OSCE Participating States, organized by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) continued its work in Warsaw, Poland. Representatives of OSCE Participating States, OSCE institutions, and OSCE executive structures, representatives of inter-governmental organizations, legal professionals, representatives of civil society and researchers from 57 Participating States took part in discussions.
Taking an active part in discussions on the topic of “Intolerance and Discrimination”, Head of Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights Dr. Ahmad Shahidov spoke about the traditions of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan, which is available throughout history. Drawing attention to together living of numerous nations in Azerbaijan, human rights defender said that “Year of Multiculturalism” has been declared in 2016 and spoke about the works carried out in Azerbaijan in this direction. Speaking about the 30 thousand armenians living in Azerbaijan in a comfortable conditions nowadays, Head of AIDHR Dr. Ahmad Shahidov said that Armenia launched a war in Nagornoy-Karabakh and as a result of this ethnic cleansing, one million Azerbaijani refugees have been expelled from their ancestral lands.
Noting also that there is a high level of religious tolerance in the country, human rights defender presented Azerbaijan as one of the few countries and stressed that mosques, churches and synagogues within a radius of 1 km in Baku are functioning without any problems. Said that Azerbaijani model of multiculturalism may be beneficial for the whole of Europe, human rights defender underlined the use of this experience will lead to the establishment of peace and tranquility in Europe.