The “OIC 1.0.” educational module is being held in Kazan these days. Within the framework of the event, 100 participants from different regions of Russia get acquainted with the activities of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, study Russia’s contribution to the intercultural dialogue and meet with diplomats. Thus, Elmira Sadykova, Executive Director of the “Russia –Islamic World” Strategic Dialogue and Partnership Fund, has become one of the event guests. She spoke in detail about the activities of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World”.
The Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” was established in 2006 under the leadership of Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov and Mintimer Sharipovich Shaimiev after the Russian Federation had joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an observer. It includes 33 prominent statesmen and public figures from 27 Muslim countries. They are outstanding politicians, former Prime Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, world-class artists, a number of major theologians of the Islamic East from Indonesia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and many others.
“In 2014, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin made up his mind to resume the activities of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World”, entrusting Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov, President of Tatarstan, to chair it”, Sadykova highlighted.
“Initially, the Group was a kind of an intellectual club, where political scientists, experts and representatives of relevant state institutions of the participating countries considered important strategic directions of world development from the point of view of establishing interaction between Russia and countries of the Muslim world”, the speaker noted. According to her, the KazanSummit International Economic Forum is one of the interesting areas of the Group’s activities.
In addition, a meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision is held annually. Thus, in 2019 the presentation of the Group’s updated concept took place in Moscow. It was attended by Chairman of the Group and President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov. “Then one of the key directions of the organization was defined – the need to intensify the role of Russian regions particularly in the format of interaction with the Islamic world. It was also said that the Group was not engaged only in searching for purely political instruments to resolve the crisis. The Group’s work is based on the fact that neither Russia, nor Muslim partners have any doubts that diversity of civilizations is not a reason for conflicts or a source of explosions, but a resource for development, which allows to unite the values that were created by the world community”, Elmira Sadykova stressed. According to her, the Group’s work is based on the principle of searching for compromises, the most successful mechanisms and projects that unite the efforts of partners.
The last meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” was held in November last year in Ufa. The participants of the organization discussed Russia’s role in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an observer state. A year earlier the meeting had taken place in Makhachkala. Then the topic of the meeting was countering extremism through the education of the youth.
“One of the areas of our work is interaction with the mass media. For instance, the International Forum of Journalists is held annually with participation of the journalistic community of Russia and the Islamic world. In 2015, the meeting agenda was to counter extremist manifestations. Last year, influence of the mass media on public opinion was discussed in Saint Petersburg. This year we have discussed the information cooperation between Russia and the Islamic world online. Another forum has been already planned. It will be devoted to the issues of interaction and cooperation in the information sphere”, Sadykova told the participants of the educational module.
Another activity of the Group is the traditional forum of intellectuals “Aitmatov Readings”. As Elmira Sadykova noted, the “Dialogue of Cultures” readings is a significant project, which allows not only to learn about the role of traditional values in maintaining cultural diversity, but also to search for new facets and formats of interaction for the benefit of society.
“I would like to say a special word about the Group’s youth direction. This year, together with the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan we have held already the fourth International Summer School “Bulgarian Dialogue of Cultures”. The key topic of it was the youth volunteer movement. On October 1, the competition for participation in the International Summer School “Bulgarian Dialogue of Cultures-2021” was announced. It will become the anniversary one”, the speaker told.
It is worth noting that the Group’s format allows to actively interact and participate in different events. Thus, in November 2019, at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference, it was decided that November 18 would become the International Day of Islamic Art. It was initiated by Bahrain. Bahrain suggested choosing the city of Muharraq, the former capital of Bahrain and the Kingdom’s second largest cityб as the center of the world Islamic art.
Summarizing the work of the Group of Strategic Vision over these years, the Executive Director of the “Russia – Islamic World” Strategic Dialogue and Partnership Fund highlighted that the Group paid attention to all spheres of public activities, with its main task being to expand interaction between Russia and the Islamic world and to establish the inter-civilizational dialogue.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina