Asaf Hajiyev

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Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat in the General Assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, Chalkidiki, Greece, 29 June – 2 July 2023

Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, and Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, participated in the 30th anniversary General Assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy which took place in Chalkidiki (Greece) on 29 June – 2 July 2023.

The main topic of the event was “30 Years of I.A.O.: Facing New Challenges. Before New Perspectives”. During the inaugural ceremony, the PABSEC Secretary General Mr Asaf Hajiyev congratulated the members of the I.A.O. for the 30th anniversary since the establishment of the Organization in 1993, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the PABSEC. He spoke about the PABSEC activities and noted the important role of PABSEC in the broader Black Sea region, a region which hosts people with different values, cultures, and religions. Unfortunately, nowadays, the Black Sea region suffers from several conflicts which threaten citizens’ peaceful life and prosperity. As a result of the different conflicts, there are more than 100 million refugees in the world, which means that among 80 people there is one refugee but in the Black Sea region among 40 people there is one refugee. Mr. Hajiyev expressed the opinion that the refugee problem has to be solved through the close cooperation of all countries and in the frame of international law and resolutions of the UN, and other respectable organizations. To that point, he stressed, that religious values can play an important role because all religions call people to peace and cooperation. This is exactly the aim of the PABSEC whose main slogan is “Peace, Reconciliation and Cooperation”.

On the second day of the event took place a special thematic session titled “the role of Christian Values in Europe and the World. Convergences and Divergences” where several reports were presented to the participants, as well as the results of the IPU conference about inter-religious dialogue that took place recently in Marrakesh (Morocco).

On the last day of the session, the members of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy deal with organizational issues and the adoption of the final documents.

In the framework of the event, PABSEC Secretary General had a meeting with Mr. Maximos Charakopoulos, Secretary General of the IAO and member of the Hellenic Parliament, during which the two officials expressed their views about future cooperation. Mr. Hajiyev presented the PABSEC activities and invited Mr. Charakopoulos to the meeting of the Secretaries General of the PABSEC member parliaments and the PABSEC Observers which is scheduled to take place in autumn 2023 in Istanbul.