'It is regrettable that Asia, the cradel of culture and civilization, is today the land of crises, conflicts and massacre which are far from the Asian culture,' Mohammad-Javad Zarif said at the first Asian Cultural Dialogue Conference which started in the Iranian capital on Saturday.
'The idea of forming political coalitions, excluding others and considering those who are not with us as enemies have been imposed by the hegemonic powers on the world, the top diplomat said, adding such ideas have directed the world toward enmity, extremism and conflicts.
The 1st Asian Cultural Dialogue Conference started in Iran capital city on Saturday with a speech delivered by head of Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) Abuzar Ebrahimi Torkaman.
Iran's minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mansour Gholami, Head of Istanbul University Board of Trustees Mustafa Aydin, Chancellor of Tehran University Mahmoud Nili, the Indonesian president advisor Din Syamsuddin as well as Mohammad Meshkateddin from Dahka Eastern University are the speakers of the conference.
The Eastern Asia, Indian subcontinent and Central Asian and Caucasus commissions will be held with the attendance of scholars from 20 Asian countries in three days in Tehran University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and Mazandaran University respectively.
