Congress of World Religions

Events

24/08/2010 IA News-Kazakhstan - Presidium of the Interreligious Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will meet next November

Meeting of the Presidium of the Interreligious Council of the CIS will be held in November 2011 and it will focus, in particular, on the analysis of contemporary economic, political life and interethnic relations in the Eurasian region, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
Patriarch reminded that in April this year, the Presidium of the Inter-religious Council of the CIS met in Baku, prior to the interfaith summit, and took important decisions.
"We had the opportunity to develop all the decisions that were taken in Baku and scheduled the next meeting of the Presidium in November next year," - said Patriarch of Moscow following the results of a meeting of the Chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazade, and the Primate of the ROC heading the board, on Tuesday in Moscow.
According to the Primate of the ROC, the issues "how to organize the work of the executive committee formed in Baku, and how to support these work and what objectives should it have" were also discussed at the meeting with Sheikh.
"In particular, much has been said about the need to respond together to the events of modern life, and in the area of economy, policy and international relations, using a religious understanding of what is happening with the human race now" - said the Patriarch.
He believes that the Interreligious Council of the CIS will be "a very effective platform for multi-religious dialogue in our Eurasian space".
According to him, during the meeting the possibility of inviting religious leaders, not belonging to the former Soviet Union to participate in work as observers or "associate members" was also discussed. "We will further study this question. Such applications have been already provided" - assured the Patriarch.
According to him, "it is right and reasonable in today's globalizing world" and "there are no ... any essentially negative opinions on this issue".
The parties also discussed issues relating to the position of the Orthodox community in Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani-Muslim community in Russia. The meeting was attended by the Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Moscow.
In November 2009, Patriarch Kyrill visited Baku to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the birth of Allahshukur Pashazade, and in April this year Patriarch visited the World Summit of Religious Leaders organized by Allahshukur Pashazade in the capital of Azerbaijan. The summit brought together heads of Major Christian churches, Islamic, Jewish and Buddhist communities, as well as authoritative representatives of Hindu, Sikh and Shinto traditions from around the world.
The beginning of such meetings was put on interfaith irenic forums in Moscow attended by the chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus in 2000 and 2004. Then, in 2004, the Interreligious Council of the CIS was formed. Patriarch (at that time, Metropolitan), Kirill and Allahshukur Pashazade became to co-chair the Council.

June 29, 2010 - Media Advisory

Kassymzhomart Tokayev, the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament - Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions met with Jorge Sampaio, UN Secretary General's High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, who is participating in the OSCE high-level Conference on tolerance and non-discrimination in Astana today.
The parties exchanged views on further development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Alliance of Civilizations, including implementation of the projects initiated by the Alliance in intercultural dialogue.
"Kazakhstan attaches great importance to partnership with the Alliance and supports its goals and objectives.

29.06.2010 - "Alliance of Civilizations" the UN is ready to assist Kazakhstan in fulfilling the commitments at the local, national and regional level, said the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio on Tuesday.

“Alliance of Civilizations is ready to cooperate with you in order to fully perform your obligations at the local, national and regional level”, said Sampaio, speaking at the High-Level OSCE Conference Panel on Tolerance and Nondiscrimination, held in Astana.
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29.06.2010 - President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev thinks that Ethnic conflicts in Kyrgyzstan are dangerous for the whole Central Asian region

In the night on June 11 in the Osh city in southern Kyrgyzstan armed conflicts started between Kirghiz and Uzbek people living there. During the week there were riots, looting and burning of houses. Authorities imposed a curfew in several areas of Osh and Jalal-Abad region where the unrest spread. According to official figures, the death toll in clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan is over 290 people. According to international organizations on the territory of Uzbekistan there are about 110,000 Kyrgyz refugees.

“The most bitter consequences of the conflict in Kyrgyzstan is that the mistrust can appear among other peoples of the region”, said Nazarbayev, speaking Tuesday at the opening of the High-Level OSCE Conference on Tolerance and Nondiscrimination held in Astana on Tuesday.