Ali Abbasov: No Dialogue between Christianity and Islam

The manifestation of intolerance and terrorism is gaining strength in the modern world and to fight against this evil there should be a progrsm adopted by uniting all peoples and nations. Such an opinion in an interview with Turan and the Voice of America was expressed by the head of a department in the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Ali Abbasov.

In his opinion, after the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001, terrorism has acquired new content and global scale that requires consolidation of efforts of the entire international community.

As for the perception of the recent terrorist attack in Orlando by the Azerbaijani society, the scientist believes there is no assessment and the society does not respond that in any way.

Only a small group of LGBT people held a rally of solidarity in front of the US Embassy. The media reported the attack, but there are no comments in the media on this issue and there is no public debate, he said.

As for the promotion of multiculturalism ideas in Azerbaijan, this phenomenon emerged in Canada and Europe. The multicultural policy is pursued against immigrants there. In Azerbaijan, there are no immigrants, so the prevailing ideology is Azerbaijanism.

According to scientists, the world's multiculturalism begins to lose its positions, and does not justify itself as a political component. But it is not given up and it comes to developing a new strategy.

What should be the strategy?

In answering this question Abbasov said: "This strategy should include the fact that the cultures of all peoples must be treated with respect. It is necessary to understand the difference in cultures, to respect them, and not be afraid. It is necessary to study each other's culture. This is a great process. " In times of globalization it is necessary to prevent the extinction of small cultures.

 Which of the models leads to the inevitability of terror - a very open society or an extreme totalitarian control? On this question the scientist replied: "Both. Terrorism has two types. Terrorism can occur based on good quality of life and that can be seen in Breivik in Norway. What did he lack?

But there are other examples where the sources of terror come from social issues. Therefore, the terror can show itself in the East and the West and take different forms," he said.

Abbasov said that in the modern world fighting with each other are not ideologies, but values backed by different cultures. According to the neo-Atlantic theory of Samuel Huntington, the modern world is a clash of civilizations. Therefore, each culture or  civilization should not impose on others what it considers acceptable for itself. Therefore, there should be a search of a common denominator between the extreme values of Western society and the extreme laws of the Muslim world. To do this, a dialogue should begin. This dialogue was between Europe and the Arab world in the 1960s and it had great results. They met annually alternately in the European and Arab cities and made comparisons between Islam and Christianity. "There is not any dialogue of the kind today," Abbasov said. -0-