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Terrorism should not be associated with any religion or nationality – Lavrov

Terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any a religion, or national or ethnic group

MOSCOW, October 25 (Itar-Tass) —— Terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any a religion, or national or ethnic group, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a greeting message to participants in the seventh international conference “Terrorism and Electronic Mass Media” that opened in Cyprus of Tuesday.

“One of the key elements of the global counter-terrorism strategy of the United Nations Organization says as follows: terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group,” he said. “We consider an inter-civilization dialogue as an efficient tool to prevent radicalization of public moods, xenophobia and social hatred, and the ideology of extremism and terrorism.”

“And in this context, mass media are playing a most important role because they are called to promote culture, tolerance, mutual understanding and trust,” he added.

“The forum’s topic is becoming ever more pressing in the area of new communications technologies,” the Russian foreign minister went on. “Terrorism, including cyber-terrorism, poses serious risks to global and regional stability and sustainable development. Only joint efforts of all participants in international communication may offer efficient resistance to this evil.”

He praised the conference for its contribution to international efforts in this area. In his words, the conference has won the status of a venue for discussion of a wide range of problems of anti-terrorism efforts in the electronic space, and of ensuring security in the area of information.

“Russia has been actively proposing initiatives in this area, including in the United Nations Security Council,” the Russian diplomat stressed.

The international forum was organized by the International Academy of Television and Radio (ATR), the Union of Cyprus Journalists, and Russia's Federal Agency for the Media and Mass Communications. The Russian Foreign Ministry rendered assistance in organizing the conference. More than 100 journalists and anti-terrorism experts, diplomats and secret agents from 20 world nations, as well as representatives from international organizations, such as the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the League of Arab States, have gathered in Cyprus to discuss the role of the media in anti-terrorism fight. The conference will end on October 28.

Participants in the forum plan to discuss such issue as media coverage of terrorist acts and international cooperation in this area.

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