In June 2011, Kazakhstan will take over the Chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world’s largest regional intergovernmental organization, bringing together 57 member states on four continents. Following Tajikistan, Kazakhstan will be the second Central Asian country to hold the chairmanship of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) since the OIC’s establishment in 1969. Kazakhstan itself joined the OIC in 1995 in order to actively participate in political, economical, cultural and humanitarian processes taking place in the Muslim world.
Together with the Islamic Summit and the General Secretariat, the CFM is one of the three main bodies of the organization. It convenes once a year and considers the means for the implementation of the general policy of the Organization by adopting decisions and resolutions on matters of common interest; and it also reviews the progress of the implementation of the decisions and resolutions adopted at the previous Summits and Councils of Foreign Ministers.
The motto for Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the OIC would be Peace, Cooperation and Development.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who describes Kazakhstan as “both a secular state and an integral part of the Muslim Ummah”, stated that the development of multilateral cooperation with the Muslim world would perfectly meet Kazakhstan’s strategic interests. Indeed, after the Soviet Union’s collapse, Kazakhstan has witnessed a renaissance of its ancestors’ faith and beliefs. At the same time, the country retained its exemplarily stable and peaceful inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations, thereby serving as a model for others and as a bridge between the West and the Muslim World.
It was not by chance that Kazakhstan, independent only since December 1991, was elected Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for 2010 – a function that it successfully completed with the Astana Summit and thanks to which it will remain in the so-called “troika” of former, current and future chairmen for one more year. This will present a window of opportunity for the large-scale inter-institutional cooperation between OSCE and OIC, which Kazakhstan has long been advocating. In this respect Astana has initiated a multidimensional dialogue on issues of security, economic and humanitarian cooperation between the two organizations, who both commit themselves to peace, stability and international security.
The OIC has a great potential to act as a major international mediator working towards the prevention of inter-state and internal armed conflicts. Here, Kazakhstan’s experience with the OSCE and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which was initiated by President Nazarbayev, can help.
Kazakhstan’s goals for its chairmanship are ambitious, and chairing the OIC at a time of such dynamic change within the Islamic world is a major challenge for Kazakhstan. In the past, the focus of the OIC has been very much on the Middle East. This will obviously remain at the core of the Organization’s work during Kazakhstan’s chairmanship, not least because of fast-breaking developments in the region. Indeed, coping with this dramatic process of transition will be the greatest challenge for the OIC during 2011. Kazakhstan’s own experience of transition can help.
In addition, Kazakhstan has set itself a broader range of targets for the time of its chairmanship at global, regional and national level. Those range from ensuring the effectiveness of the Chairmanship itself and strengthening the role of Kazakhstan as a bridge between the Ummah and the West, to raising the international profile of the OIC, implementing the OIC’s ten-year plan of action, helping Islamic countries cope with the challenges of change, strengthening international and regional security, and strengthening non-proliferation regimes covering weapons of mass destruction. A special focus will be put on promoting security, cooperation and development in Central Asia.
In the spirit of inter-faith harmony, tolerance and moderation, Kazakhstan aims to promote dialogue and counter Islamophobia. It will also continue its work to promote dialogue between civilizations.
According to an old Kazakh proverb, “Unity lives along with progress”. Therefore, Kazakhstan puts a special focus on development assistance and promotion of economic growth, especially since the recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have clearly shown that global security and stability cannot be achieved without first addressing social problems. Besides cooperation with the OIC economic institutions, including the Islamic Development Bank, Kazakhstan will also contribute its own share to the fight against famine, poverty, health- and education problems, particularly in Eurasia.
Kazakhstan has recently adopted a Law on Islamic financing and Islamic banking system that has created conditions for further implementing Islamic principles at banks, microcredit institutions and other financial institutions, which in their turn can now issue loans on an interest-free basis, mostly for social projects. In the framework of its chairmanship of the OIC, Astana has submitted a proposal to adopt a long-term programme of economic and financial assistance by the Organization to the least developed countries of the Islamic world. Astana is also planning to hold in Kazakhstan major events such as the 7th session of the World Islamic Economic Forum, the third Conference of Health Ministers of the OIC member states and a number of other initiatives, which are intended to make a meaningful contribution to solving the problems of countries of the Muslim world.
Last but not least, Kazakhstan identified the field of culture, education, science and technology as important areas of cooperation with the OIC. In this regard, the establishment of close cooperation with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) provides Kazakhstan with an opportunity to successfully implement national projects such as preservation and restoration of cultural heritage, and an exchange of best practices in learning and teaching languages, history and culture of the Islamic countries. Almaty’s recent nomination as the capital of Islamic culture in Asia for 2015 by the ISESCO has given a notable impetus to the expansion of humanitarian ties with other OIC member states.
Kazakhstan has a full agenda for its Chairmanship of the OIC. It will take on the responsibility with the aim of improving the lives of Ummah, and enhancing Peace, Cooperation and Development with the Islamic community of states.
