The 7th International Congress in Paris devoted to victims of terror

The 7^th International Congress was held on September 15 in Paris devoted to victims of terror. First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva attended the Congress.

First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva delivered a speech at the event.

Speech by Mehriban Aliyeva:

- Your Majesty Princess,

Your Excellency,

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I would like to commence my speech with the expression of my gratitude to the French Terror Victims Association and its Director General Guillaume de Saint-Marc for inviting me to participate in the 7^th International Terror Victims Congresses. 

This significant event is quite a convenient chance to look through the details of calls faced by the world in the struggle against the evil of terror and removing its terrible consequences. In fact, if we fail to treat victims of terror with proper care, it would be impossible to conquer terror. Of course efforts made towards preventing sufferings of victims of terror acts should be on the focus of attention.   

States, non-government organizations and the civil society in general should increase their efforts to provide moral, material, medical, advisory and other forms of support and assistance to such a very vulnerable stratum of our societies.     We should also assist them by explaining to them their rights and directing public attention to the problems they face in order to reduce the feelings of being isolated. A hand of assistance should be reached out to victims so that they find strength to withstand the sufferings they experience. We assure them that we will never forget what these people had experienced.

I’m sure a great number of participants coming from over 35 countries including Azerbaijan and representing all places of the world will benefit from holding a more fruitful and comprehensive exchange of ideas. I hope that the greatest benefit of the event will come out of the dialogue and mutual activity between decision makers, on the one hand, and terror victims and representatives of civil societies, on the other. This is also a rare chance to share one’s private experience, get to know each-other and look into the ways of removing the calls they face.

Dear participants,

Terrorism is a threat to all states and nations. It is a threat to our security, democratic values of our societies, rights and freedoms of our citizens, especially, a threat targeting innocent people.  Terrorism is an act of crime and may in no way be justified.

Despite all efforts at an international level, the threat of terror is still high. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan too has not been freed from this evil, and in 1991, after regaining its independence, our country faced military aggression and foreign occupation. More than 30 terror acts were committed in our country and, as a result, over 2000 people were killed.

Right after the 9/11 terror acts, of which anniversary was marked a few days before, Azerbaijan joined the struggle against terror and gave great contribution as part of the international coalition against terrorism.

We all know that, given the universal character of terrorism, the success of our endeavours made in an individual form depends on the quality of our international cooperation. From this standpoint, I completely welcome the idea of establishing the Terror Victims International Association, which would be supportive in taking joint actions to resolve challenges faced by terror victims. I believe that the Azerbaijani Terror Victims Association recently established based on the French experience, of which representatives are among us, would contribute to our future success.

In conclusion, I would like to wish every success to discussions held at this meeting, and I assure you that Azerbaijan will provide ongoing support to international initiatives aimed at resolving issues concerning terror victims.

Thank you for your attention.