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T. Elbegdorj: We Are One Great Family
Written by Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia
Friday, January 16, 2009
Address to the World Summit on Peace
Seoul, Korea, January 16, 2009
Last year in Mongolia, we held a great event, sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation — the Global Peace Festival. That peace festival happened after the disputed elections. Many respected leaders and representatives from many countries of the world came to Ulaanbaatar and gave us insights into how we can work together.
After that disputed election, another great thing happened: for the first time, Mongolia won gold medals in the Olympic Games — two gold medals. We also won two silver medals. Then we received representatives from the Universal Peace Federation in Mongolia. Those two big events actually gave us hope and gave us confidence to work together and build our nation as a peaceful and democratic nation.
Mongolia actually built the greatest empire that ever existed on this earth. I would like to tell you one short story. Many of you know of the great traveler called Marco Polo. Marco Polo actually spent several years in the palace of Genghis Khan. When he was in Mongolia, in the Mongolian capital city Karakorum, he saw many religions represented. He saw Christian churches, Muslim mosques, and Buddhist temples existing next to each other. He reported about meetings and conferences during which people talked about their beliefs and how to build a better world — like we are doing today.
When Marco Polo returned to Italy and told about what he had seen in the Mongolian empire, nobody believed him in Europe or in Rome. Many people called Marco Polo a liar because he described things that were unbelievable at that time.
I think I see a very unique association between that culture and the Universal Peace Federation. Even today, it’s difficult to find an organization that can assemble in one room representatives of so many beliefs and religions and so many people from governments and nongovernmental organizations to discuss the issues and challenges we face today. Because of the Universal Peace Federation, I saw representatives of many religions coming together in Mongolia to pray for peace.
I think we have to be very consistent in our efforts for building peace. On the horizon there are new challenges. We see the screaming voices of war and the screaming voices of glowing bombs. Because of the developments of technology, we see those things happening in our homes on the television screen.
We believe that we are really brothers and sisters, one family under God. Mongolians deeply appreciated those who initiated the Mongolian People’s Federation for World Peace. The finding that about 70 percent of the world’s people are born with a blue spot, called the Mongolian spot, means that we are genetically like brothers and sisters. We are indeed one great family.