Baku, Azerbaijan - A conference initiated by the Universal Peace Federation on “Promoting a Culture of Stable Marriages and Families” was held in the Ambassador Hotel of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on November 11. The head of the Azerbaijan Peace Council, former Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Rahim Huseynov, hosted the program and moderated the conference. There were about 50 participants, including representatives of state bodies, NGOs, and some distinguished people.
{besps}/images/stories2/eurasia/2011/azer-4076{/besps}
Among them were Rustam Ramazanov, representative of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations; Elchin Nasirli, president of “OISCA” Azerbaijan-Japan Friendship Society; Leyli Gulieva, Professor of the State Pedagogical University; Sabina Mamedkarimova, representative of the Ministry of Education; Rashid Rumzade, representative of the Azerbaijan Human Rights Ombudsman Office; Yashar Bashirov, president of the Azerbaijan Karate Federation; Rauf Zeyni, president of the National NGOs Forum; Ibrahim Mustafayev, former Minister of Industry of Azerbaijan; Nadir Ahmedov, former Minister of Communication; Veli Aliyev, representative of the National Academy of Sciences; and Ilyas Ismailov, member of the Azerbaijan Parliament.
Congratulations were offered to new Ambassadors for Peace who joined the Azerbaijan Peace Council; Mardjan Shahbuzlu, a poetess, and Rasim Aliyev, director of Evian Construction Company, received certificates as Ambassadors for Peace conferred to them by the leader of UPF-Azerbaijan, Toru Nishiwaki. New Ambassadors for Peace addressed the audience. Other speakers included Akif Kerimov, president of “Kur-khazar” Charity Group, and Minaya Feyzullayeva, a People’s Artist of Azerbaijan.
The presentation of the recently published autobiography of Dr. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of UPF, took place during the conference. The book was published in Baku, in the Azerbaijan language. Elmira Mahaddinli, editor of “Vesti Baku” newspaper, translated the book and shared some of her feelings about the book during the months of work on this project. Ahmed Mamedov, representative of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, said “There have been many turning points in human history. Oriental and Western philosophies went separate ways. Now, Dr. Moon discovered a way to unify Eastern and Western standpoints. It is impossible for a healthy person to have sick organs. Similarly, Dr. Moon points out that there could be no peace if there are sick families in the world.”
Konstantin Krylov, Assistant Secretary General of UPF-Eurasia, gave a presentation on “Marriage and Family.” After that, a campaign in support of moral standards in the former Soviet Union was launched, initiated by UPF-Eurasia.
Closing the conference, H.E. Rahim Huseynov said “The issue of stable families is very important for Azerbaijan. Since ancient times, the culture of good families has been an intrinsic part of the national tradition. Azerbaijan should offer additional support for marriages and families.” He called upon Ambassadors for Peace to join their efforts in upholding the values of peace through creating harmonious families.
The conference was preceded by a Unification Thought Seminar organized by UPF at the Irshad Conference Center in Baku. Konstantin Krylov presented a series of lectures on Dr. Moon’s ideas about creating a peaceful world through dialogue and cooperation among religious people and scientists, and among political and religious leaders. The program was attended by Col. Isahan Veliyev, former Prosecutor of Baku, who commented that certainly Unification Thought shows the way to establish harmonious relations between employees and employers, government and people, nations and leaders.
After the conference, Prof. Rasim Bashirov, President of the Azerbaijan State Marine Academy, invited UPF representatives to visit his Academy. There they discussed prospects for future cooperation and the importance of improving neighborly relations among all the nations in the world by through education with an international perspective.
The movement of Ambassadors for Peace in Azerbaijan is developing as a strong support of the UPF peacemaking efforts in the South Caucasus. The conference program was an important step forward in this process.
For more information about UPF-Eurasia's South Caucasus Peace Initiative, click here.