Turkish-Azerbaijani Ministers Voice 'Multiculturalism'

BAKU (AA) - Turkish and Azerbaijani culture ministers on Tuesday stressed that multiculturalism creates a deep civilization and richness in society. Turkey's Culture Minister Nabi Avci and his Azerbaijani counterpart Abulfas Garayev attended the Multicultural Society and Tourism Conference in Baku on Tuesday."Nations get richer with multiculturalism," Garayev said in the opening remarks. He said diversity in his country helps hosting visitors with more hospitality.The minister recalled that earlier this year, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev declared the year 2016 as "Year of Multiculturalism" in the country.Garayev also said the number of tourists going to Azerbaijan has been increasing.Turkish minister said multiculturalism paves the way for people to live together with respect to diversity. "It is the law of living together in a pluralistic society," he said. Stating that both Turkey and Azerbaijan have rich cultures, Avci said, the two countries have the experience and knowledge to integrate their culture with the modern sectors of this century. He said Turkey has been among the world's six top tourism destinations, despite what he called "all Turkophobic and Islamophobic discourse" in the West. The two ministers also voiced future cooperation for stronger relations between the old allies. -