'Eurovision allowed Azerbaijan to remind the world of its infinite capacity to be host'

Azerbaijan has just been the exceptional host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, member of the French Senate Commission for International Affairs Nathalie Goulet told Trend.

"Baku has vibrated to the rhythm of frantic preparations and a gestation and has transformed into a city of light," Goulet said.

Goulet believes that Eurovision was an opportunity for Azerbaijan to demonstrate its technological know-how and to remind the world of its infinite capacity to be a host,
through its friendliness and openness to the world, as well as thanks to its competent and attentive staff.

"It was a success all the way through with no fault of taste, she said. So the criticisms are even less acceptable when they come from people who do not know the country well, otherwise they would be aware that from a strategic and economical standpoint Azerbaijan is a major player in regional stability."

Goulet stressed that caught between Iran and Russia, facing a war with Armenia which has made more than a million refugees and displaced people, Azerbaijan, through the voice of its president, has lead a sensible and intelligent policy, despite the occupation of 20 percent of its territory by Armenia.

"Everything is not perfect, without doubt, but we must compare what is comparable. There is an Armenian church in Baku, while the buildings of all the mosques and cemeteries in the occupied territories were destroyed", Goulet said.

"In this Muslim country the Jewish community lives without being confronted to anti-Semitism and the same can be said about Christians and other religions. Baku offers a model of multiculturalism and openness," she added.


/Trend/