MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Russia favors collaboration with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and is interested in developing relations with it, Russian Federation Council (upper house) 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. 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.
The speaker 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 united through relations of friendship, mutual respect and comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation. We see the Islamic world as a partner in civilizational dialogue that rests, like us, on the principles of respect and equality of civilizations," the Federation Council speaker said.
Matviyenko noted that at Russia’s initiative and with support from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations, the Conference on Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Dialogue involving heads of state, parliamentarians and leaders of major world confessions will be held in Russia in May 2022. "I have to address you with the request to join in the preparations for this important conference. We expect you to provide new ideas, proposals and substantive content for this conference, possibly, some recommendations in the final document. We would be grateful to you if the organization exploited its capacities when arranging for such an important conference," Matviyenko addressed the OIC secretary-general.
OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen highlighted, for his part, that relations between the organization and Russia have long history. He stressed 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 targeting innocent people or governments. If anyone wants changes, it is not the reason to apply violent methods," the OIC secretary-general said. He remarked 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 share this view," Al-Othaimeen noted.