A conference marking the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the institution of Ombudsman has been held in Baku.

Participants in the conference included Azerbaijani deputy Prime Minister, chairman of the State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs Ali Hasanov, president of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Akif Alizade, first deputy chair of the Milli Majlis Ziyafat Asgarov, minister of culture and tourism Abulfas Garayev, Azerbaijan`s Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Elmira Suleymanova, chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children`s Affairs Hijran Huseynova, chairman of Copyright Agency Kamran Imanov, chairman of the State Statistics Committee Tahir Budagov, Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova, rector of Baku State University Abel Maharramov, president of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Fund Gunay Efendiyeva, foreign ambassadors in Azerbaijan, parliamentarians, and heads of religious communities.

In her remarks, Elmira Suleymanova highlighted what has been done in Azerbaijan to protect human rights and freedoms.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov said national leader Heydar Aliyev always attached great importance to values of multiculturalism. He said this policy is today successfully continued under President Ilham Aliyev. “The Azerbaijani government`s policy towards ethnic and religious minorities is recognized by international organizations. The Azerbaijani model of multiculturalism is set as an example to other countries,” Ali Hasanov added.