CHOLPON-ATA /Kyrgyzstan/, June 30. /TASS/. Foreign ministers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization member countries expressed concern about the rising threat of terrorism and the increasing number of terrorist attacks motivated by neo-Nazism.
"The CSTO member states express deep concern about the rising threat of terrorism and extremism in the world and recognize that there are a number of internal and external factors contributing to the serious problem of radicalization that breeds violence and facilitates involvement in terrorist and extremist activities," CSTO foreign ministers said in a statement.
The foreign ministers also expressed "alarm at the increasing number of terrorist and other extremist acts that pose a threat to society and the state and are committed under the influence of radical ideas, including those that are motivated by neo-Nazism, xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance."
"Terrorism and extremism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group," the statement said.
"Any acts of terrorism and extremism cannot be justified regardless of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever they are committed, and the perpetrators of such unlawful acts must be brought to justice," the statement went on to say.
The ministers also stated that "any support, propaganda, justification of and incitement to terrorist and extremist activities" is unacceptable. They "attach importance to the implementation of comprehensive measures to counter the financing and other forms of support for terrorism and extremism, including by suppressing recruitment, arms supply channels and cross-border movement of terrorists," according to the statement.
The ministers called against "double standards in the fight against terrorism and extremism, as well as attempts to use terrorist and extremist groups for self-serving geopolitical purposes."
Counterterrorism measures
The ministers called for "enhanced individual and collective efforts by states to counter radicalization leading to terrorism and extremism motivated by terrorist ideas and other radical ideologies, including religious intolerance, insults to religious feelings of believers, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism, neo-Nazism, ethnic and racial discrimination, which contribute to incitement to terrorism and recruitment to carry out terrorist activities."
The document called for continued efforts to "improve advanced methods and means in the fight against terrorism, especially to suppress attempts by terrorists and extremists to use modern information and communication technologies to spread radical ideology and practices."
The ministers attach special importance to "eradicating internal and external causes and conditions for the emergence and spread of radicalism, including through the education system, explanatory work and support for traditional religious institutions that contribute to the harmonization of inter-confessional and inter-ethnic relations." They called for further intensification of efforts by the media, religious leaders, academic institutions and the business community to raise awareness of the "danger of the ideologies and activities of terrorist and extremist organizations and to promote the principles of tolerance, social cohesion and respect for ethnic, religious and cultural diversity."
The ministers noted "the relevance of efforts to deradicalize and socially reintegrate persons who have been influenced by radical ideology, including persons previously involved in the activities of terrorist and extremist organizations, persons held in penitentiary institutions for committing crimes of extremist orientation and of a terrorist nature, as well as persons who have served out their sentences for involvement in terrorism and extremism, including so-called foreign terrorist fighters."
The ministers reaffirmed that they are determined to "further develop cooperation in the fight against international terrorist and extremist organizations posing a direct threat to CSTO member states, as well as to neutralize attempts of destructive external interference in the internal affairs of member states aimed at destabilizing the social, political and economic situation, provoking radicalization of the population and the growth of extremist and terrorist manifestations."