SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. Participants of the international conference entitled "Cultural and Ethnic Diversity: Lessons from History and Contemporary Challenges" in Shusha have adopted a joint declaration.
The declaration text is the following:
1. Cultural and ethnic diversity, tolerance, and multiculturalism must be a national asset for every state. No nation should be humiliated, discriminated against, or persecuted based on its ethnic and religious affiliation. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, international obligations on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, and UNESCO's principles on the protection of cultural diversity must become effective tools for protecting the fundamental rights of peoples who have been expelled from their historical lands, subjected to mass massacres, genocides, and deportations, and faced with the threat of losing their historical and cultural heritage and language. Modern forms of colonialism and actions bringing tragedy, slavery, and suffering to people must be prevented. The ethnic and religious affiliation of people must not be considered a crime, nor should it lead to collective punishment;
2. The national dignity and pride of peoples must be taken into account, the principles of humanism must be taken as a guide, and confrontation and clashes must be replaced by dialogue, cooperation, and an environment of trust;
3. The forced deployment of ethnic minorities in Russia - Circassians, Lezgins, Avars, Tatars, Kumyks, Chechens, Sakhas, Buryats, and other non-Russian peoples - to the Ukrainian front through persecution, intimidation, and imprisonment must be stopped. Russia must learn lessons from history, recognize the genocides against Circassians and other peoples, cease the glorification of those who shed their blood, and ensure that archival materials on related historical topics are accessible. Chauvinism and xenophobic rhetoric in Russia, as well as the attacks and persecution against non-Russians by "Skinhead" gangs and their various manifestations emerging under new names and guises at their own discretion, must be stopped;
4. Azerbaijan's exemplary model in preserving ethnic and cultural diversity, and in promoting interfaith, intercultural, and inter-civilizational harmony and dialogue, must be commended. Azerbaijan's historic Shusha Victory should serve as a model and a symbol of the restoration of historical justice, which colonized peoples need the most.
