Speech of the Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry V.V. Popov at the first meeting of Group of strategic vision “Russia – Islamic world” that took place in Moscow on March, 27-28, 2006.
For centuries Russia as a Eurasian country is connected with Islamic world by traditional ties of friendship and cooperation. Today our policy of rapprochement with the Muslim community is not a tribute to fashion, or market conditions, but the natural direction of Russian foreign policy, which is based on the rich traditions of good neighborliness with our friends from Islamic countries.
I would like to emphasize that Russian President V.V. Putin in his speech at the first session of the parliament of the Chechen Republic of December 12, 2005, said: “Russia has always been the most faithful, reliable and consistent defender of the interests of Islamic world … Russia will continue to pursue this policy.”
These words today are reflected primarily in the revitalization of our trade and economic relations with the leading countries of Islamic world and the intensification of contacts in the political sphere. Last year was particularly remarkable for us because Russia received an observer status in the OIC. Our contacts with the organization are constantly evolving and progressively filled with concrete content. The basis of this cooperation is the common aspiration of our states and peoples to develop a constructive dialogue on the key issues, to jointly seek ways to resolve them in a fair, collective basis.
In the East and in the West there is a general understanding that a new chapter in world history began after the events of September 11, 2001. Modern international relations are in a state of transition; the world is undergoing a profound transformation, and is facing a rapid growth of the global problems related to economic development and the evolution of social consciousness. In the era of globalization there is the integration of economies, but, unfortunately, the cultural differences are amplified. Among the new challenges inter-civilizational alienation manifests itself more obvious.
At present, the confrontation line “West –Islamic world” exacerbated. Religion largely determines the nature of civilizations. The current intensifying confrontation between the West and Islamic world is not religious and not a clash of civilizations, although it is more profitable for extremist forces on both sides to present it like this. In fact, the tension between these worlds is due to the political and socio-economic reasons. The gap between rich and poor, injustice in international relations, unemployment and poverty are the driving forces behind the growth radical currents. This gaining strength confrontation affects different aspects of life. In the globalization cultural differences are manifested especially vividly and deeply, because the trend towards universalization makes small and medium-sized nations to place particular emphasis on preserving its identity.
Today in Russia and in Islamic world is perfectly aware that religious extremism is dangerous; it does not lead to dialogue but to mutual hostility and intolerance. Moreover, in fact, the actions of extremists are primarily aimed at undermining fundamental values of Islam. We believe that our response must be the development of measures to promote the revitalization of cultural and educational cooperation between Russia and Islamic countries in the region, the implementation of multilateral projects to substantiate the dialogue among civilizations, including the dialogue of Islam and Christianity. Today more than ever we need a respectful dialogue between different religions and civilizations.
We are against the fact that Islam is compared with terrorism, for us there is a punishable offense, whether taking of hostages or killing of innocent people, and substitute the fight against terrorism for the fight against Islam as a religion of a great civilization, is totally unacceptable. The main causes of violence lie in specific people and stem from social problems. The activities of individual organizations, actively using Islam, cannot justify the existence of such a term as “Islamic terrorism.” Also the well-known activities of the Irish Republican Army do not give grounds to speak about the Irish or the Catholic terrorism, the actions of militant organization “The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” do not give grounds to speak about Hindu extremism, and the actions of the Basque ETA do not give grounds to speak about Christian terrorism.
We believe that it is possible to cope with such evils as terrorism only with the active cooperation with the countries of Islamic world, and in this struggle we are not just partners, we are allies.
Russia, including in alliance with other states could play a very important role in the avoidance of the real clash of civilizations. Belonging to the Christian and Muslim worlds Russia has accumulated more than a thousand-year experience of constructive co-existence of different religions and in terms of growth of tensions between civilizations in the modern world our country demonstrates a high level of tolerance and cooperation between different peoples.
Today, more and more people are convinced that without the participation of Russia it is impossible to solve Iranian issue, or conduct a dialogue with Hamas or reach a settlement around Syria and so on. Dialogue among civilizations is aimed at eliminating currently spreading xenophobia, Islamophobia, for achieving mutual understanding, true partnership of civilizations. Russia, as a country with deep traditions of Islamic-Christian cooperation, in culture of which has embodied the symbiosis of two great civilizations, advocates that the cooperation between religions and cultures should be more distinct in nature and there should be a fundamentally important priority in the new coordinate of international relations.
The proposed initiative on the establishment the Council of civilizations at the General Secretariat of the United Nations could be our joint concrete contribution for the deepening of the real dialogue between civilizations.
Today, when the world is faced with new challenges and threats it is possible to deal with them only together; the combination of our efforts and capabilities can contribute to the solution of many international and regional problems. We are convinced that without the participation of the Muslim society, which represents nearly a quarter of humanity, it is impossible to solve any of the pressing problems of today, it is impossible to create equally stable and equitable system of international relations.
I am sure – this fully meets the interests of both our peoples, and humanistic values which the entire world’s religions, including Islam preach to.