Participation of the Deputy Minister of Religions
of Kazakhstan and the forthcoming Interfaith Conference
Doha International Religious Center receives Ambassador of Kazakhstan
Visit of Kazakhstan Ambassador
The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the State of Qatar announced the participation of an official delegation representing the Republic at the 13th Doha Conference on Interreligious Dialogue, which will be held under the theme “Religions and Human Rights” on the 20th and 21st of this month.
The delegation will be co-chaired by HE Mr. Birk Aren, Deputy Minister for Religions and Civil Society, and Mr. Bagabek Mirzayev, Director of the Religious Analysis Department of the Religious Affairs Committee, Ms. Karljash Halila Khanova, Deputy Director of the International Center for Culture and Religion of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The meeting was attended by HE Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, and HE Mr. Oscar Shokibayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Doha. The meeting included exchanging ideas and views on interfaith dialogue. The next and the most important participants.
HE Dr. Ibrahim Bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, expressed his appreciation for Kazakhstan’s active participation in the forthcoming conference as well as in previous conferences.
He praised the distinguished cooperation between the two sides in the field of dialogue, and stressed that the seed of dialogue that was planted in Doha about 15 years ago has begun to bear fruit, noting the size of the turnout to participate in the conference.
“Dialogue should not end in conference halls, whether in Doha, Kazakhstan, or any other part of the world. It should be activated in public culture and found in schools, universities, and communities,” he said.
Dr. Ibrahim said that Kazakhstan is one of the most stable countries in the region, and coexistence between religions and cultures is clear, and stressed that Astana is a model capital, symbolizing many cultures, a mixture of civilizations and religions in one place.
For his part, HE Ambassador Ascar Shokibayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said that the Astana Conference of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held for the first time in 2003 and held every three years in Astana, was an initiative of His Excellency the President of Kazakhstan.
He said that the beginning of the twenty-first century witnessed many misunderstandings between religions. The conference came to limit this, as well as to correct the false image that linked Muslims to terrorism and to promote interfaith understanding.
The Kazakh ambassador, Askar Shukibayev, said that Kazakhstan is home to about 130 nationalities of different faiths living in harmony and peace and pointed to the importance of convening dialogue conferences in Doha and Astana.
It is expected that the number of participants in the Thirteenth Conference on Interfaith Dialogue will reach about 500 people from 70 countries, divided into religious scholars, politicians, academics, researchers and interested in dialogue issues.
The conference, organized by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, is based on three main themes. The first theme is the human rights of religions (vision and concept). The second theme is: The position of religions on human rights violations (theory and practice) The third theme is the human rights issues between heavenly laws and international covenants.