Dariga Nazarbayeva held several bilateral meetings with reps of leaders of world and traditional religions
The meetings were held as part of the XVIII meeting of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Strategy2050.kz reported.
Chairwoman of the Senate of the Parliament, head of the Secretariat of the Congress Dariga Nazarbayeva met with priest Dimitry Safonov, secretary for interreligious relations, Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), and ICE executive secretary. The head of the Senate thanked the interlocutor for many years of support and active participation in the work of the Congress’s Secretariat.
In turn, D. Safonov expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for the support of the Orthodox people.
“The Interreligious Council of Russia has great respect for Kazakhstan, supports all the proposals of the dialogue platform, and hopes to cooperate in the future. We would like to receive materials and speeches of participants of previous Congresses to study the experience of Kazakhstan in convening an inter-religious forum”, D. Safonov noted.
Also, the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate said that Patriarch Kirill is planning to visit Kazakhstan in 2021.
Meeting with Secretary-General of the Islamic Research Academy Al-Azhar Nazir Mohammed Mohammed al-Nazir Ayyad, Dariga Nazarbayeva praised Al-Azhar's efforts to strengthen the role of Islam throughout the world, promoting the true, peace-loving essence of the religion, tolerant and uniting all peoples.
“We are grateful for the assistance provided in educating Kazakhstani students in this largest center of Islamic thought, where they receive a qualified education”, the Senate Speaker said.
The head of the Congress Secretariat also met with representative of the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, IOR Secretary-General, Abdel Aziz bin Ahmad Sarhan. The parties discussed joint cooperation to develop the activities of the Congress and its entry to a qualitatively new level.
Abdel Aziz bin Ahmad Sarhan expressed gratitude to the leadership of Kazakhstan for creating a truly global platform, which many world religions need.
“The dialogue platform with your leadership provides an example of interethnic harmony and internal stability”, the IOR Secretary-General said.
We note that the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions will be held in 2021.
