At the opening ceremony of the Conference of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul, President Ivanov, as one of the key speakers, delivered his address on “Balkan Peace - a Vision for the Future with Lessons from the Past”.

The World must not repeat the mistakes of the past in order to be a better place to live in, with less conflicts and more freedom and democracy. People and religions must share greater understand, and the purpose of every individual must be the desire for freedom, President Gjorge Ivanov said in his address.

The Macedonian President, before more than 200 participants at the conference from the political, economic, diplomatic and academic circles in Turkey, reviewed the consequences of the conflicts throughout history in the Balkan region and addressed the threats and the causes of future conflicts.

The map of the world, President Ivanov said, today shows that where freedom dominates wealth dominates as well; however, much of the wealth on the planet is a result of the indebtedness of certain countries. It indicates that there will be many conflicts which will not be on religious grounds, nor for liberty, but wars between those who have and those who do not. Global developments, President Ivanov said, reflect the situation in the Balkans, which becomes a place where many people seek for relief from the risky areas.

There is constant movement of people and migration causing potential conflicts. Therefore, the Alliance of Civilizations has a lot of work to do. A battle on many fronts should be led, because old prejudice stemming from religion are gone, the divisions created by ideologies still dominate, but the modern way of living that creates huge debts is a source of conflict, President Ivanov stressed.

He noted that to achieve peace, the world should learn from the past, not to repeat the mistakes in the future. That is exactly the role of the Alliance of Civilizations, to influence people and religions to understand each other, and the freedom to be the goal of every one of us and to capitalize the desire to live in a better world, the Macedonian President assessed in the lecture he delivered at the Conference.