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| Russia commits to stronger ties with the Muslim world |
| 2008-10-29 |
| EDDAH: Russia renewed its commitment to stronger ties with the Muslim world, vowing respect for religious values and a stronger voice for Islamic nations on the global stage at a forum with Muslim leaders here yesterday. President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev took a friendly dig at all those who have a habit of blaming Muslims for everything that goes wrong in the world. “Thank God, Islam is not being blamed for the global financial crisis,” Shaimiyev said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group at the Jeddah Conference Palace. He said Russia has become a natural partner of the Muslim world. “One can say that Russia has clearly defined its strategic path in the Muslim East. It has become a natural partner of the Muslim world,” he said. Shaimiyev, one of the group’s Russian co-chairmen, noted the meeting is primarily about “restoring the required level of trust and predictability in our relations, as well as making clear that the aspiration to develop long-term cooperation with the Islamic world is not just a politically expedient issue for Russia.” Tatarstan is one of the republics of the Russian Federation. Shaimiyev said there is mutual interest in developing cooperation between Russia and Muslim countries. “One should bear in mind the fact that a strategic partnership with Russia, which seeks a multi-polar world order and does not encroach on values, traditions, authenticity or sovereignty of countries of the Muslim East, is very important for Muslim countries as well,” he said. “Russia always occupied a special place in the Islamic world. In Soviet times, global problems were not solved without Russia. Today, the situation has changed and it is necessary to direct affairs using the intellect rather than weapons as it used to be. Tatars have a proverb: ‘The one who is strong will beat one, and the one who is clever will beat a thousand.’ Our age is an epoch of rivalry of wits and modern technologies,” Shaimiyev added. "During the years of Perestroika, Russia's positions in the Islamic world considerably weakened. Now the role of Russia has grown noticeably ... This will certainly positively affect the influence of the Islamic factor on world politics," Shaimeyev added. The forum is being organized by the Saudi Foreign Ministry and is specifically discussing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah's initiative for interfaith and intercultural dialogue. In an address from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev read by Shaimiyev at the event, Medvedev wholeheartedly supported King Abdullah's initiative. "Russia, a country with observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, intends to abide firmly to its course to expand active interaction with the Islamic world. In this connection, I think a broad discussion of the initiative to further develop interregional dialogue proposed by King Abdullah is of crucial importance," he said. "I am also convinced that the implementation of the Russia-proposed idea of forming a consultative council of religions under the UN aegis will help strengthen the moral principles of world politics, facilitate deeper interconfessional communication and, in a broader context, promote the dialogue of civilizations," the Russian president wrote. "The illusion of the unipolar world is becoming a thing of the past in front of our eyes. This strategic forum can contribute significantly to the search for ways to make the situation in the world healthier and to attain a new level of global partnership," Medvedev wrote. "I am convinced that Russia's active interaction with the Islamic world will help build a fairer system of international relations, where the factor of force will finally stop playing the role of a universal instrument to settle all emerging problems," he said. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Obaid Madani said: "We highly appreciate Russia's interest in the development of long-term and multifaceted cooperation with the Islamic world." The president of Tatarstan later called on Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal at the Makkah Governorate on Madinah Road. "You look very much like your late father, King Faisal," Shaimeyev told Prince Khaled. During the course of his discussion with the governor, Shaimiyev reminisced about King Faisal's visit to Russia in the 1960s. He also presented the governor with a CD highlighting that visit. The Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group was created in 2006 as an advisory body to increase cooperation in all fields between Russia and Islamic countries. The meeting in Jeddah concludes today. |
| Posted by:Classer |
| #13 WAFF > IRAN CALLS FOR "BALANCED STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP" WID RUSSIA. You just know the Devil is in the meaning of the term 'Balanced"??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-10-29 23:12 |
| #12 WORLD MILITARY FORUM > RETURN OF RUSSIAN FLEET AIMS AT FINDING NEW NAVAL BASES [post-2017 Sevastopal] IN INDIAN OCEAN [Arabian Sea]. Besides TARTARUS, Syria + returning to their former Cold War SOUTH YEMEN Base, RUSSIA MAY ALSO BE CONSIDERING TO SET UP IN HONG KONG = widening the parallel port of LATAKIA??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-10-29 22:59 |
| #11 Apparantly Gulliver was committed to stronger ties with the lilliputians as well. Just hope the ropes are weak. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-10-29 14:02 |
| #10 Yeah, the 10 year Afghan war was a friendly gesture. |
| Posted by: hammerhead 2008-10-29 13:06 |
| #9 Good job, Vladdy. That Beslan thing? Just an "aberration" I'm sure... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-10-29 12:45 |
| #8 when did muslims become the scapegoats for everything that went wrong in the world?Last time i checked scapegoats monthly the americans and jews where in 1 and 2 spots |
| Posted by: chris 2008-10-29 10:31 |
| #7 Also, china too is using muslim as proxies, politixcal and possibly military, just as russia does. Just remember the 2001 "anti-racism" durban UN conference which turned into an anti-Western, anti-US, anti-joooo hatefest. The goal of china is to overthrow the western world order in term of values and rules, the dumb muzzies are great footsoldiers for them, from pakistain to iranians. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-10-29 09:52 |
| #6 Sheer demography works against ethnic russians (IE the muslim part of the russia federation is young and rapidly growing, while the white european russkies are aging and depopulating), russia already is a member of the islamic conference organization, and has a long-standing run of having muslim countries and terror orgs as clients. So, it' s only very natural russia plays the muslim card against it's "ennemies", it's the only one they've been dealt with. putin is stuck in the "Evil Empire" thought mode, he's a nostalgic of the USSR (whose fall was according to him the "greatest tragedy of th e20th century"), his regime is very busy rehabilitating stalin, making the West as a scapegoat and a scarecrow in a fascistic national-communism fashion... no wonder he's so popular with the french wingnuts who dream of having russian tanks sweeping through Europe to purge it of its decadence... In a very short time span, muslim men will be an absolute majority in military service age group, and china will have colonized de facto the russian far east, but, hey, putin is the blue-eyed blond guy who's turning russia into a "world power", whereas the USA are "stuck in a downward spiral of capitalist-induced decadence "... |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-10-29 09:49 |
| #5 Maybe the internal review of the Georgian operation and the economic spreadsheet from the new KGB showed that 'hard' diplomacy wasn't in the cards in dealing with the muzzies for the near future, so he's following the 'soft' diplomacy of the other Euros. Someone else learned that pissing off the big boys to the west and fighting the threat to the east at the same time isn't a good game plan. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-10-29 09:03 |
| #4 Putin took a wrong turn here. Thinks he can handle these jihadi fucks. Unless the commitment is to killing them all? |
| Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident 2008-10-29 08:39 |
| #3 President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev took a friendly dig at all those who have a habit of blaming Muslims for everything that goes wrong in the world. That's funny, considering they believe the exact same thing about Jews. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-10-29 08:25 |
| #2 So when does Russia adopt Sharia? And have they decided to make nice with the Chechens? And Beslan was just an innocent misunderstanding? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-10-29 08:05 |
| #1 Basically anyone who is not friends of the west!!!! |
| Posted by: Paul2 2008-10-29 07:37 |