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Respect for Diversity Brings Peace
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General Phillippe Morillion, a European Parliament deputy and the organization's rapporteur for Turkey, paid a visit to Bilkent on February 23 to give a speech on peace in Europe and the Balkans. He believes that stability and peace throughout Europe can only be achieved by respecting humans in all their diversity, including their religion, ethnicity, and social backgrounds.
Europe,  General Morillion noted, exists on a foundation of wide cultural diversity. If those differences are not recognized and respected, the continent will never know peace. In some places, like Bosnia and Kosovo, people were threatened and thrown out of their homes because they were different from those in power. This is why Europe acted in a united fashion to restore peace in Kosovo, even though some might have perceived it as invasion.
He believes that one day Serbs and Albanians will live in peace, side by side, and that this is not just a dream. Morillion says, "Globalization helps people overcome psychological complexes, like racism and nationalism. When you live together in one place, you need each other. If you strive for complete independence from others, there will be no bridge bringing the world into your country".
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