Kazakh president urges OIC to counter attempts to equate Islam with terrorism
ASTANA. April 13 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Madani, met in Istanbul to discuss the need for OIC members to step up the fight against terrorism and eradicate Islamophobia, the Kazakh president's press office said on Wednesday.
Nazarbayev stressed the importance and timeliness of inviting the attendees of the forthcoming summit for preserving the unity among Muslim countries, and searching for responses to current global challenges.
"Kazakhstan subscribes to all the decisions that are due to be approved by the summit. Jointly with the Turkish president, we launched a special appeal urging the Islamic world to unite. I express my gratitude for its provisions being included in the final documents of the summit," Nazarbayev said.
He also stressed the need for a new stage in the OIC development, the need for OIC to move from simply discussing problems to making real decisions.
Nazarbayev also said that during his recent visit to Iran he called for better relations between that country and Saudi Arabia.
"Such division has a negative effect on our common unity. Islam and progress always go side by side, so we need to work together to develop science and technology in the Muslim countries," said the president of Kazakhstan.
"Yet another problem is terrorism being equated with Islam. We should eradicate such a perception and issue an 'Islam Against Terrorism' appeal, thereby raising the level of Ummah. Your contribution in this respect is significant," he said.
For his part, Madani stressed that Nazarbayev's attendance of the summit makes it more significant.
"Your initiatives are very important for closer ties in the Islamic world and create opportunities for further progress. We need to work on their subsequent implementation," said the OIC chief.
