Global peace depends on dialogue between civilizations, says Greek president

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has said that world peace depends on the dialogue between different civilizations.

"Global peace depends on the dialogue between civilizations," Pavlopoulos told Xinhua ahead of his state visit to China on May 12-16, during which he will also attend the CDAC in Beijing.

The Greek president said that his country sees the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) as the best opportunity to underline how great the value of dialogue between civilisations is.

"Real civilisations do not collide. Real civilisations simply, sometimes, lose communication with each other. Bridges are cut off. We need to rebuild these bridges. We must restore this communication. That is the role of dialogue between civilisations," Pavlopoulos said.

"We live in troubled and dangerous times, so we must defend above all the human being in such times. If we do not do this through dialogue between civilisations, there is no other way to do it," he said.

"The East and the West, we have many more things that unite us than those that separate us," Pavlopoulos said.

Peace can only be consolidated through peaceful coexistence, which cannot be achieved without dialogue between civilisations, he said, adding that "civilisation is the main pillar that can support" mankind.

"I think that nowadays we have not understood the importance of civilisation. That is why there is this turbulence all over the world. When we realise how important civilisation is, real civilisation, how many common things we share through civilisation ... then, we will understand that the future of mankind towards peace is a future that goes through the dialogue and understanding of civilisations," he said.

The CDAC, themed "Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Asian Civilizations and A Community with A Shared Future," will open on May 15. It is expected to gather more than 2,000 government officials and representatives of various circles from 47 Asian countries and other countries outside the region.