Russia is interested in developing relations with Organization of Islamic Cooperation - speaker

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Russia positively values cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and is interested in developing relations with it, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said at a meeting with OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen on Thursday. "The Organization of Islamic Cooperation plays an important role not just in the Islamic world, but in the system of international relations in general as well. It is no coincidence that it was named the Islamic United Nations. We positively value cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that we have carried out for 14 years as an observer state. We want to continue to fully develop relations with your organization," Matviyenko said. She highlighted that cooperation with the OIC is "of special interest" for multinational and multiconfessional Russia, in which more than 20 million Muslims live. "Russia and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are linked by relations of friendship, mutual respect and comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation. We see the Islamic world as a partner in civilization dialogue that is based, like us, on the principles of respect and equality of civilizations," the Federation Council speaker said. She said that at Russia’s proposal and with support from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations the Conference on Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Dialogue involving heads of states, parliamentary members and leaders of major world confessions will be held in Russia in May 2022. "I have to address you with the request to join the preparations for this important conference. We expect you to provide new ideas, proposals and substantive contents for this conference, possibly, some recommendations in the final document. We would be grateful to you if the potential of the organization were used when preparing such an important conference," Matviyenko said, addressing the OIC secretary-general. Common understanding OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen highlighted, for his part, that relations between the organization and Russia have long history. He highlighted the importance of strategic relations between Russia and the Islamic world. "We have common understanding and common views on the issue of terrorism - that it is unacceptable, just like extremism. Subterfuges are unimportant, as there can be no justification to violent actions directed against innocent people or against governments. If anyone wants changes, it is not the reason to use violent methods," the OIC secretary-general said. He highlighted that terrorism has no religion, citizenship, nationality or ethnicity. "We denounce all violent actions, no matter whether Christians, Jews or Muslims [commit them.] We denounce such actions. And we should all support this opinion," Al-Othaimeen noted. Read more