NEWS

Intervention by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mr. Marat Tazhin

at the meeting of foreign ministers

of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations

(New York, September 24, 2008)

Mr. Chairman,

As one of the initial members of the Alliance's Group of Friends, Kazakhstan welcomes the increasing role and effectiveness of the Alliance of Civilizations.    

Today practical implementation of decisions and undertakings approved by the Madrid Forum constitute top priorities for its Group of Friends. In realization of the ideas of the Alliance on promotion of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue an International Ministerial Forum “The Common World: Progress through Diversity” of Muslim and Western countries will be held in Kazakhstan on 17 October 2008. Its main goal will be to establish and reinforce positive interaction between the Muslim and Western worlds.

The Forum will discuss, at the political level, the parties’ approaches to international relations, modernization, economic cooperation, mutual adaptation of cultures, education and analyzing the role of media in this process.

Mr. Chairman,

Many speakers at our meeting last year noted an important need to involve religious leaders in key areas of activities of the Alliance of Civilizations. Since 2003, Kazakhstan has twice hosted the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, thus contributing to the promotion of dialogue among cultures and civilizations. The third Congress of Religious Leaders will take place in Kazakhstan in 2009, and we are grateful to the Alliance of Civilizations secretariat for its readiness to closely cooperate with the Congress secretariat in ensuring success of this event.

Kazakhstan launched an initiative to declare 2010 the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. A unanimously adopted resolution calls for organizing, during the course of the year, appropriate events on interreligious and intercultural dialogue. In this regard Kazakhstan has already started preparations for an international forum involving clergy as well as political, academic and cultural circles.

We believe that regional organizations have a major role to play in reinforcing intercultural dialogue. As a member of several regional arrangements, Kazakhstan takes practical measures to involve them in the dialogue among cultures and religions.

As an incoming Chairman of the OSCE in 2010 and the OIC Ministerial conference in 2011, Kazakhstan intends to promote in these major organizations issues of dialogue among cultures and religions, strengthening tolerance and continued efforts of member States to combat all forms of discrimination. Thank you for your attention.  

Date of issue: 2008-09-24