From Faisal bin Abdulrahman bin Muaammar, Secretary General of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID)

His Excellency Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Your Excellency,

I would like to convey my sincere appreciation and congratulate you for the highly organized 2nd Baku Summit of World Religious Leaders held last week. The deliberations and adopted declaration come at much needed time for global leaders and representatives to reaffirm once again the importance of global dialogue and universal solidarity to face the challenges of extremism, xenophobia and discrimination.

The summit also came at a timely auspicious occasion to celebrate two instances, namely; the 70th anniversary of Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade and the 40th anniversary of his activity as Sheihkulislam. His Virtue Pashazade is an esteemed and honored member of our Board of Directors.

Unfortunately, the story of faith and diversity has too often been twisted into a source of despair and destruction among communities when both should be the truth and facts that bind us in our common humanity.

It is such events that reiterate the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue to bridge the gap and address the malice of our contemporary era. Dialogue be it in the religious context or cultural context is at the foundation of KAICIID’s mandate and we aim to bring religious leaders and policy makers from across the divide to find common ground to solve the issues of our world.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the rich discussion we had during our meeting which allowed to highlight the immediate common challenges we face and I reaffirm once again that the power of dialogue today and tomorrow is our only path for peace, development and human dignity.

With the assurance of my highest consideration, I remain.

Faisal bin Abdulrahman bin Muaammar

Secretary General of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID)