Top Roles in OSCE and OIC ‘Unique Opportunity’ for East-West Dialogue

President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010 and in the Organization of Islamic Conference in 2011 provides it “a unique opportunity to make a practical contribution to the dialogue between the Muslim East and the West.”

According to the President, Kazakhstan’s forthcoming chairmanship of the OSCE has “a very historic and symbolic significance,” as the country will be the first country from the post-Soviet space to chair the organisation. This will also happen on the 35th anniversary of the OSCE, which brought together countries in an area from Vancouver to Vladivostok.

In a November 5 interview with Jordan Times, President Nazarbayev listed key features of modern day Kazakhstan as “an anchor and a generator of stability in the region,… a stable state in the region that has avoided ethnic and religious conflicts,… a predictable and credible partner with huge resources for interaction with all its neighbours.”

“Kazakhstan’s leadership of the OSCE is of great significance for most of the organisation, stressing the validity of the principle of equality of all states. Kazakhstan believes in the need to adapt the OSCE activities to the interests of all its members and considers the forthcoming chairmanship a good opportunity to give a “new breath” to the organization,” President Nazarbayev said.

By chairing the OSCE, Kazakhstan seeks to gain a unique experience in enhancing regional security and stability, socio-economic development, the promotion of tolerance and multiculturalism. On the other hand, “The OSCE will significantly enrich our experience and vision of the diversity of the modern world and the various ways of building an open democratic society,” the President noted, adding that Kazakhstan will try “to bring new impetus to the desire of the OSCE to more rapidly and adequately respond to new threats and challenges.”

Kazakhstan will also continue to implement its special programme, “Path to Europe,” which reflects Kazakhstan’s interest in broader cooperation with European countries in the fields of energy, transport transit, transfer of high technology, education and humanitarian cooperation.

At the same time, Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 and of the OIC in 2011 provides it a unique opportunity to promote the dialogue between the Muslim East and the West.

“The most important and topical issue, in our opinion, is fostering intercultural, inter-religious and inter-civilisational dialogue. We see the success in harmonisation of relations through mutual spiritual and cultural values,” the President commented.

In this regard, Kazakhstan is not just a supporter, but also an initiator of processes aimed at promoting dialogue in the political and spiritual spheres. A successful example is the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. In July 2009, the Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions took place. Religious leaders from around the world appealed to the international community to recognise the necessity to continue the interfaith dialogue based on mutual respect, cooperation and tolerance.

“Having a positive experience in preserving ethnic harmony and unity, we would like to contribute and present our own vision for the development of dialogue in the political sphere,” President Nazarbayev stressed. The basic idea behind it was the harmonisation of relations between the Muslim and Western civilisations in the political aspect. We hope that we will be able to continue such successful experience during our leadership of OSCE in 2010, and the OIC in 2011.”