Putin highly estimates international activities of Russian Moslems

KAZAN, January 25. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has highly assessed international activities carried out by Russia’s centralized Moslem organizations. "As for international activities, I think it is a very interesting and very right area," he said at a meeting muftis of Russia’s Moslem organizations and the leadership of the Bolgar Islamic Academy. "No wonder people turn to you for support to our educational work in other countries." Chairman of the Council of Muftis and the Religious Islamic Department of Russia, Dr. Ravil Gainutdin, noted that Russian Moslem organizations promote the country’s interests not only domestically but also in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in the Moslem world and in European countries. "Today, we have two very important international venues. It is the annual International Muslim Forum. We organized it in Russia ten years. In 2015, it was held in London. Russian Moslems in the center of London: we held this form having invited Moslem leader from 20 European countries. They hear us. The see how we are developing and what are relations between Russian Moslems and the Russian authorities, and how we are supported by the president," he said. The previous such forum was held in Helsinki and it is planned to organize the next one in Paris, with corresponding negotiations currently underway. "We are a sort of ‘soft power’ promoting our model of civil society development. I have recently received the US and Spanish ambassadors. We are not politicians, we are not diplomats but we have popular diplomacy. Speaking with them we are making them turn to us," Gainutdin said, adding that it is necessary "to support the potential we have abroad." Read more