A conference titled "Azerbaijan: Culture, society and economy" has been held in Rome, Italy.

The event was co-organized by the Azerbaijan-Italy Association, Council on State Support for NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan and Italian Geographical Society.

Employee of Tor Vergata University of Rome Simone Bozzano described Azerbaijani-Italian relations as fraternal. He stressed the role of parliamentary friendship groups in deepening bilateral ties.

Head of Azerbaijani-Italian Inter-parliamentary friendship group Azer Karimli highlighted the visit of a delegation of Italian Geographical Society to Azerbaijan. He spoke of the roots of multicultural values in Azerbaijan. "Representatives of various nationalities and religions have historically lived in the country in peace. Azerbaijan could be a model country at a time when the world is hit by religious and ethnic clashes."

Highlighting the first European Games held in Baku, Karimli noted the Games brought together 6,000 athletes from across Europe. "These Games are a source of pride for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has did it utmost to ensure excellent organization of this historic sporting event."

"Unfortunately, on the eve of the Games, Azerbaijan became a target of some European mass media, including Italian ones. We were very surprised by this because Europe, particularly Italy, have good diplomatic, political, economic and cultural relations with Azerbaijan. We are confident that this position of some media outlets doesn`t reflect that of Italy."

Italian MP Sergio Divina praised Azerbaijan`s rapid economic development. He applauded the country`s successful organization high-profile events, including Eurovision-2012 and inaugural European Games.