Representatives of different religions and secular society must constantly engage in dialogue, the purpose of which is opposition to destructive activities of terrorist organizations, because now international terrorism has become a truly global threat, which can be defeated only by working together, Abdulhamid Bulatov, Polad Bulbuloglu and Konstantin Dolgov told Vestnik Kavkaza on the sidelines of the International scientific conference titled 'Religion against terrorism', which was held in the People's Friendship University with the participation of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Russia.
Thus, the head of the Directorate for Strengthening National Unity and Preventing Extremism on Ethnic and Religious Grounds of the Federal Agency for Affairs of Nationalities, Abdulhamid Bulatov, pointed out in the first place that the huge creative potential lies in any religion.
In this regard, he expressed regret over the spread of the ideology, which has declared war to everyone, in the Middle East. "First of all, progressive Muslims, which are being destroyed in certain Middle East regions, suffer from this. As well as the Christian population, which was massively expelled from their traditional places. Religious leaders should understand that the essence of any religion is establishing peace and harmony in one's heart. The interpretation of the religion, which leads to total chaos and violence, has no relation to its religious foundation, since it is only an interpretation of people who seek to use religion for their own political or other purposes," Abdulhamid Bulatov drew attention.
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, stressed that religion unites people. "Religions are different, but they are focused on a purification of a man. Therefore, everyone are concerned that various actions are being carried out on behalf of Islam, due to which the negative term 'Islamic terrorism' appeared, whereas terrorism cannot be linked to any religion. In this regard, it is important to hold various conferences, where political analysts and experts have the opportunity to express their opinions," he stressed.
"The importance of communication at the expert and a higher level is particularly high, because terrorism is not a threat to the local particular country or religion, today it threatens the entire world and humanity," Polad Bulbuloglu believes.
Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Konstantin Dolgov, in turn, stressed the need to intensify efforts and coordination between the representatives of leading world religions, religious organizations and human rights organizations in countering the ideology of terrorism and extremism. "It's about confronting the practical destructive and illegal actions of terrorists primarily in the Middle East and North Africa, which they carry out in order to impose their absolutely destructive agenda," he said.
According to him, the need to combat terrorist activity should be promoted in the UN and the OSCE. "Naturally, Russia as a country with the millennial experience in the peaceful coexistence of different religions will remain the natural leader of this effort. We seek to unite the efforts of states for international work in a variety of formats," he concluded.
The International scientific conference titled 'Religion against terrorism' was organized with the support of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Kazakh Embassy in Russia, the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of CIS member states, the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Federation, the Institute of Oriental Studies, as well as the Philosophy and Sociology Faculty of RANEPA, Lomonosov Moscow State University, the presidium of the Russian Academy of Education and the Russian Political Science Association.
