Nazarbayev urges not to confuse Islam with terrorism

Attempts to use Islam for justification of any forms of extremism and terrorism are blasphemous, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev stated during the 5th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana. The main topic of the forum is “The Dialogue of Religious Leaders and Political Activists in Favor of Peace and Development.” The head of Kazakhstan called for the participants of the event to resist extremism together and state a united opinion on Islamic State.

In the last three years the world has faced new and more sophisticated attempts to bring division to the world on the grounds of religious differences. Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the activities of the radical group Islamic State are one of the threats of international terrorism. He noted that, by using a global recruiting network, ISIS is involving young people from various countries of the world into it. Hiding behind pseudo-religious slogans, the militants are executing representatives of other religions, journalists and volunteers. They are deliberately destroying the cultural heritage of ancient civilizations in Iraq and Syria.

The wars in Yemen and in Ukraine are leading to thousands of deaths. However, the religions of the whole world, the head of Kazakhstan said, appeal for moderation and patience, for an end to wars and conflicts, for peace between people. “One of the most tolerant religions is Islam,” Nursultan Nazarbayev said. “Attempts to use Islam for justification of any forms of extremism and terrorism are blasphemous. In this difficult time, I call on all religious activists to redouble their calls to their flocks for peace, consensus, tolerance and forgiveness. Any nation is alive and powerful while it is able to appreciate and preserve its unity.”

The leader of Kazakhstan called for religious leaders and politicians “to unite and express a united opinion against such a position and hiding crimes behind religion.” He also urged measures to be taken to increase the moral responsibility of the media. The head of Kazakhstan noted that the great religious doctrine has nothing in common with international terrorism.

The Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, who participated in the congress, noted the importance of the event: “You initiated the idea 15 years ago, when the situation was radically different from the current one. Today when the whole world is suffering from religious extremism and terrorism, it is necessary for the voices of religious leaders who are calling for resistance to hatred to be heard,” Ban Ki-moon said.

The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions was first held in September 2003. “Kazakhstan is a unique platform for inter-religious dialogue. The idea of Nazarbayev, as well as his other innovations, was in advance of its time. However, today everybody admits the importance of the dialogue,” Yuri Solozobov, the Director of International Programs of the Institute of National Russia, told Vestnik Kavkaza. Moreover, sectarian and radical movements were excluded from the inter-religious dialogue from the very beginning. According to him, this is reasonable, as there are few prospects to agree with radicals about anything; while those who are gathering in Astana are able to consent, despite some conflicts.

It is interesting that today President of Russia Vladimir Putin will meet Pope Francis and discuss the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. “The fact is that the majority of the Ukrainian “troops” belong to the Uniate Church, and the Pope’s opinion is very important for them.

The majority of foreign contract soldiers are Polish citizens, for many of whom the power of the Catholic Church is indisputable. During the conflict in the east of Ukraine, inhumane methods of conducting war were used, as well as weapons forbidden by international conventions. This is a subject for negotiations between the Orthodox Church, the Moscow Patriarchy and the Polish Church, or even the Holy See in the Vatican. Putin has confirmed the importance of the idea after G7 didn’t offer anything but a confrontational path. A dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches and a probable visit by the Pope to Moscow opens the opportunity to seek a new format of talks,” Yuri Solobozov said. According to the expert, the Astana platform is unique in that various issues are discussed here, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “However, the main idea is the one initiated by Nursultan Nazarbayev: settlement of relations in the Islamic world,” the expert thinks.

The expert stresses that today in the world mass media there is a tendency to describe Islam as a religion that spreads terror and violence. “We shouldn’t confuse the radical branches of Islam, which have captured a part of Muslims, with traditional Islam – a religion of a highly humanistic character. However, it is easier to label than to try to understand. Moreover, “an aggressive religion of hatred” is a comfortable reason for a violent Western coalition to start new Crusades,” Solozobov thinks.

According to him, today it is important to try to neutralize activities by radical Islamists, which are generated due to the Western special services. “It is no secret that Wahhabism was controlled by UK special services; ISIS was supported by Western weapons, and now it is out of control, as they say. I don’t believe in an absence of control. It seems ISIS is used as a ramming attack to destroy some countries in the Middle East and create an eternal threat to Central Asia and Russia,” Solozobov thinks. According to him, Nursultan Nazarbayev is trying to find appropriate negotiators in the Islamic world to fight against radical elements in Islam.

The Deputy Secretary General of the World Islamic League, Abdrahman bin Abdullah al-Zaid, noted that traditionally dialogues are conducted by political leaders. “However, religious leaders and their institutes also have a big opportunity to contribute to spreading peace through the development of a cultural dialogue, through respect for people’s right to a dignified life,” al-Zaid said. At the same time, he stressed that “discrimination and a policy of double standards prevent positive results being reached in achieving peace and human rights protection in the world.”

“I think the congress will make its voice heard. It is naïve to think that some magic wand will solve all the disputes and problems when representatives of the main world religions agree on something. However, there will be positive feedback for sure,” the head of the Analytical Center of MGIMO, Andrei Kazantsev, said. According to him, the goal is very topical, as the example of Varvara Karaulova, a student of MSU, a culture expert who studied in the Philosophy Department, shows that anybody can be recruited into Islamic State; nobody is safe. That is why it is important to resist religious extremism. “I think an attempt to rely on the true values of world religions is the right step,” the director of the analytical centre of MGIMO, Andrei Kazantsev, told Vestnik Kavkaza.