Kazakhstan’s Presidency in OIC to Serve Peace and Progress
By Kanat Saudabayev
In June 2011, Kazakhstan will take over the presidency of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world’s largest regional intergovernmental organization, bringing together 57 member states on four continents.
This new international mission holds special meaning for our country which only a few weeks ago completed its chairmanship in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It will present a unique chance for Astana to further promote one of its major foreign policy goals, that of fostering greater understanding and cooperation between the East and the West. Kazakhstan’s successive chairmanships in these two respected organizations offers a rare window of opportunity to elevate cooperation between the OSCE, where Kazakhstan will remain in the so called “troika” of current, former and future chairmen, and the OIC, as well as between their member states in order to fully benefit from their potential and share expertise.
Today, Kazakhstan, the Central Asian nation with the rich history and diverse culture where Islam has always played and continues to play a major role, considers interaction with the Muslim countries one of the priorities of its foreign policy.
Astana has long advocated large-scale inter-institutional cooperation between the OSCE and the OIC. For that matter, the purposes and goals of the OIC are quite similar to those of the OSCE as both organisations commit themselves to building peace, greater international security and stability. As the OSCE chair, Kazakhstan has initiated a multidimensional dialogue on issues of security, economic and humanitarian cooperation between the two organisations.
During nearly two decades of Kazakhstan’s participation in the OIC, Astana has achieved a rather high level of cooperation with the Organization’s institutions. Kazakhstan’s accession to the OIC in 1995 was inspired by the country’s willingness to actively participate in political, economic, cultural and humanitarian processes, taking place in the Muslim world.
As repeatedly noted by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the development of multilateral cooperation with the Muslim world meets the strategic interests of our country, which is both a secular state and an integral part of the Muslim Ummah.
At the same time, Kazakhstan’s activity within the OIC can clearly convey to our Muslim brothers the true thrust and scope of foreign policy initiatives of our President. We are thankful for the OIC’s resolutions supporting such initiatives of the Kazakh President as convening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and triennial congresses of leaders of world and traditional religions, declaring the year 2010 as the UN-recognized International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, and August 29 as the International Day Against Nuclear Testing, as well as supporting Kazakhstan’s candidacy for the UN Council on Human Rights.
We believe Kazakhstan’s dynamic involvement in the OIC offers benefits in terms of expanding trade and economic cooperation with other countries of the Islamic world. Strengthening cultural and humanitarian partnership, as well as the spiritual ties with the Islamic nations, is important as well.
By playing a key role in the OIC, Kazakhstan wants to strengthen the cohesion of the Muslim countries and make the OIC more audible in the international arena.
On the economic side, in February 2009, through the assistance of experts from the Islamic Development Bank, Kazakhstan adopted a Law on the Islamic financing and the Islamic banking system. This document, pioneering of its kind in the post-Soviet space, has created unrestricted conditions for further implementing the Islamic principles at banks, microcredit institutions, credit unions and other financial institutions in Kazakhstan. The adoption of this law allowed Kazakhstan to introduce a new form of financial and banking services based on Islamic principles, which involves the issuance of loans on an interest-free basis and mostly for social projects.
Another important aspect is to advance our cooperation with the OIC in the fields of culture, education, science and technology. 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 such national projects as preservation and restoration of cultural heritage, and exchange experience in learning and teaching languages, history and culture of the Islamic countries. ISESCO’s recent nomination of Almaty as the capital of the Islamic culture in Asia for 2015 has given a notable impetus to the expansion of humanitarian ties with OIC member states.
As is widely known, the Muslim world today faces massive challenges and security threats. In addition to the long-standing problems of poverty, illnesses, illiteracy, hunger and burden of debt, protracted conflicts and newly inflicted wars stand high on the agenda of OIC member states.
In the frameworks of its presidency in 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. We are 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 in the countries of the Muslim world.
OIC countries need to develop a common position in response to the so-called international terrorism disguised as “Islamism”, on the one hand, and the growing anti-Islamic sentiment in the world, on the other. In this regard, we believe Kazakhstan has accumulated significant experience in promoting universal values of peace, tolerance, and non-discrimination, which we’ll be glad to share with everyone interested.
Kazakhstan’s presidency in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference was one of the main subjects of our talks with the foreign ministers of OIC member states held in the margin of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2010.
As stressed by the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, his country is looking forward to the participation of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the OIC summit, to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in March 2011, as one of the most respected and dynamic leaders of today’s world. OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the executive authorities of this influential Organization are ready to provide Kazakhstan with all necessary support for the most successful and efficient conduct of its presidency in the OIC.
The OIC has great potential to act as a major international mediator working toward prevention of inter-state and internal armed conflicts in member countries of the Organization. Astana will make every possible effort to strengthen trust and expand cooperation between OIC member states. To this end, we have considerable experience and the appropriate tools, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, and, of course, the institutions of the OIC itself.
I firmly believe the results of Kazakhstan’s presidency in the OIC, to be conducted in close cooperation with our partners in the Ummah, will further strengthen the existing mutually beneficial cooperation, dialogue, understanding, peace and progress both within the Islamic community and between civilizations.
The author is Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev.
