Baku, Azerbaijan - Sixty Ambassadors for Peace and a few new guests attended a UPF conference in Baku on Nov. 23 at the Irshad Hotel, a small hotel owned by Ambassador for Peace Dr. Rafig Aliyev. This hotel became a historic site when it hosted Pope John Paul II during his visit in Baku in 2002, the rare visit of a Pope to a Muslim nation. Since the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan did not have a suitable headquarters building to host the Pope at that time, for the first time His Holiness stayed in a public hotel, owned by Dr. Rafig Aliyev, who was then the Director of the State Committee of Religion.
Many high-level Ambassadors for Peace, invited by former Prime Minister Rahim Huseynov, attended the event, including Dr. Rafig Aliyev himself. The theme of the conference was “Strengthening World Peace.” Konstantin Krylov, Secretary General of UPF-Eurasia, first reviewed recent activities of UPF, suggesting that Ambassadors for Peace might wish to do something similar in Azerbaijan. Then Jacques Marion shared about the central value of UPF, altruism, which should inaugurate a new era in human relations at all levels, beginning with the sacredness of marriage and family.
Some questions and comments came from participants, including ways to deal with the intense conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Five new participants were appointed Ambassadors for Peace, including Mr. Rafael Rahimov, former prosecutor of Azerbaijan.