Putin:

Islam is an integral and important part of Russian culture

Rasa – The President of Russia, in a meeting with Muslim representatives, said that “Islam is an integral and important part of Russian culture.”

News ID: 491

Date: 27 October 2013 - 09:42

Rasa News Agency reports - Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation spoke at a meeting with Muslim muftis celebrating the 225th anniversary of Central Muslim Spiritual Administration in Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan.“225 years ago, Catherine II, the Empress of Russia after Peter III, established our country as an Islamic centre and established Islam as an integral and important part of Russian culture,” he said.

“Her decision at that time showed the world, especially Europe, what the meaning of a culture of tolerance and coexistence was. Catherine II’s decision indicated reason and reconciliation in the context of inter-religious dialogue,” Putin added.

Putin emphasized that Catherine II gave motivation to the establishment of Russia as a centre for a Muslim clergymen as Russia has never been the scene of religious wars in its history. The establishment of this centre was a message to unify the East and West; Asia and Europe.

“This unification not only led to citizens living together peacefully, but it also protected the religious identity of the citizens and caused no change in their beliefs,” he stated.

“Our fathers and grandfathers never discriminated against each other on the basis of ethnicity or faith. They valued mutual respect, supported each other in joy and sorrow, and have left us a legacy of great, invincible friendship, friendship that we will allow no one to destroy or blacken,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin referred to the tensions between the West and the Islamic world and stressed that some political forces are trying to make this problem worse by making use of radical trends within Islam for their own agenda.

“These actions are untypical of the Russian Muslim community,” Putin emphasized.

“They’re doing this in order to weaken the [Russian] state, to create conflicts governed from outside, to split ethnic groups within the Muslim community and to incite separatism in the regions,” Putin argued.

“Russia cannot be successful alone to eradicate the sedition and division amongst Muslims and must cooperate with its allies in the Muslim world,” he stated.

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