Statement of His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, at the Session on “Intercultural Dialogue: Culture of Peace - Avenue of Multiculturalism”15th Eurasia Economic Summit

Date: 10/04/2012

Istanbul, April 10-12, 2012 Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the outset, I would like to congratulate the Marmara Group Foundation for organizing this session on intercultural dialogue and for the kind invitation extended to me to participate as a Guest of Honour. I am also heartened to see an assemblage of distinguished personalities known for their commitment to peace and understanding among diverse cultures through dialogue. Intercultural Dialogue is an issue that is closest to my heart for many reasons. First of all, it is a priority for the OIC, which upholds it as indispensible for developing a culture of piece among peoples of the world. The concept of Dialogue among Civilizations was pioneered by the OIC at the United Nations in 1998. The OIC’s engagement towards this objective was later further reinforced and activated through the several schemes of international action varying from scholarly projects to global calls for intercultural dialogue that we implemented in recent years. This action was launched within the framework of a set of major initiatives adopted by the OIC Member States in 2005. Soon after I assumed office as Secretary General, the leaders of the Member States met in Makkah in December 2005 for the Third Extraordinary Summit of the OIC. This historic meeting produced two landmark outcome documents, namely the Makkah Declaration and the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action. The two documents underscored the centrality of intercultural dialogue as effective means towards engendering a culture of peace, tolerance and mutual respect among peoples of the world. Since the Makkah Summit, the OIC has devoted itself to stimulate a healthy and result-oriented dialogue by involving all stakeholders at all levels, a dialogue that would encourage and inspire peoples of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds in pursuit of peaceful and harmonious cohabitation. Our objective was to combat the core ingredients of extremism and intolerance of diversity that impede on meaningful dialogue towards developing a culture of peace and understanding. We were very clear that the dialogue to be meaningful and result-oriented, should not be confined to the elite only. Rather, it should be structured and conducted in a manner so that it reaches the grass roots of the society and for all to appreciate and enjoy the benefits. Another reason leading me to wholeheartedly underscore intercultural dialogue is that this issue has been one of personal concern for me from the beginning of my career and throughout my professional life. Within the framework of my previous missions I conducted, instituted and organized various types of international projects with the aim of bringing peoples of different backgrounds closer to each other by the medium of culture; by introducing them to each other through their respective cultural heritage, their arts, their sciences and their intellectual and social traditions. This involved the organization of cultural contacts among different circles of society from diverse countries including art circles, academic milieus, information media and others, in the Muslim world and beyond. This was done by coordinating practical activities of research, teaching, training programs, translation, publication, art and architectural competitions, professors and students workshops which were implemented through international collaborative projects and programs of academic research and cultural cooperation. These have proved to be effective since they enlisted the participation of, and dissemination of their outcomes to, different levels of society, as is also reflected now in the present approach of the OIC that I have just described. In particular, during the 25 years of my functions as the Director General of IRCICA, the OIC’s cultural subsidiary organ located in Istanbul, I gave importance to promoting due representation of the OIC Member States, the Islamic civilization and Muslim cultures in various global forums aimed at building dialogue. Starting from the 1980s I was honoured to be invited to some major global forums to speak on behalf of and underline contributions made by Muslims to civilization and dialogue in history and at present. At the Religious Summit which was held on Mt. Hiei, in Kyoto in 1987 with five hundred participants, my presentation was titled “Islam and Peace”. At three meetings of Inter-religious Dialogue held at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom in 1984, 1986 and 1987, I addressed various contemporary issues including business ethics and economic transactions according to the monotheistic religions. Other examples of most important such forums was the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival held at Oxford University in 1988 attended by one hundred spiritual leaders from all major religions and one hundred parliamentarians from fifty-two countries, the Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival which was held in Moscow in 1990 and attended by two hundred parliamentarians from around the world and religious representatives, scientists, environmentalists, together with their counterparts from the then Soviet Union, and the international forum on Globalisation from a Cultural Perspective - Confrontation or Association held in Amsterdam in 1992 where I dealt with the theme "Globalisation from a Cultural Perspective - East meets West". Involvement in these forums since more than two decades ago required a multidisciplinary effort on our part which indeed proved effective in creating awareness among the global community of the importance of promoting dialogue between civilizations by duly recognizing all partners that have played a role in the formation of what is today world civilization. A last but significant initiative I wish to recall was the Meeting of the Leaders of the Different Faiths Represented in Turkey that we have hosted at IRCICA back in March 1996 on the occasion of the visit of Mrs. Hillary R. Clinton, then First Lady of the USA, to IRCICA within the framework of her round of visits to Turkey, Bosnia and the Balkan region underscoring the theme of interfaith dialogue in the aftermath of the war in Bosnia. The concerns which were formulated and the objectives which were sought in the context of these endeavours are still ongoing issues of concern in the present day and much more so. I believe that it would not be an exaggeration on my part to state that the present day world is passing through a period of grave danger and uncertainty. The rise of right wing extremists in recent days in many societies is a cause of great alarm. They pursue an agenda of intolerance of cultural diversity and religious beliefs. These extremist groups and individuals comprise right wing politicians, fanatic and bigoted religious leaders, authors and civil society activists. While these elements may constitute a minority section in society but their capability to destabilize cannot be undermined. The advancement in modern day information and communication facilities, in particular the social media provides them unprecedented advantage to spread their mission of malice and hatred to the ordinary people and to vitiate one community against another. The primary target and victim of religion and faith based intolerance has been Islam and Muslims. The rise of Islamophobia in western societies that is fuelled by the right wing extremist politicians and individuals who bear an inexplicable hatred for Islam, have subjected Muslims living in the west to racial profiling and discrimination, negative stereotyping and stigmatization. As a result, Muslims both indigenous and immigrants, have developed feelings of insecurity in their daily lives and denial of their basic human rights. The OIC has been proactive in countering faith based intolerance by engaging in a dialogue with western stakeholders including governments, international organizations, think tanks, academic institutions and the civil society. Our message is clear and unambiguous: to raise a global awareness of the grave threat of growing Islamophobia to inter-communal peace and harmony as well as to global peace and security. The recent horrific aftermath of the Norwegian massacre conducted by a youth who was inspired by the anti-Islam campaign of Dutch politician Geert Wilders is just one among the many instances that I could cite to substantiate our concerns. The OIC has a principled position against any form of extremism. Drawing on the teachings and principles of the Islamic faith that is based on peace, compassion, tolerance of all human beings irrespective of their cultural background and religious faith, we have been consistent in rejecting all forms of religious extremism and bigotry. Our active participation and cooperation with the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the European Union, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the ODHIR, and the Governments of the European countries and the USA in combating intolerance and engendering interfaith harmony, bear testimony to the OIC’s commitment to intercultural dialogue for harmonious cohabitation in society. I sincerely believe that developing a Culture of Peace needs a multilateral and multidimensional approach. The issue has been on the agenda of the United Nations for some time now. If we are to indeed attain this objective, we would need to identify all the threats and impediments to peace, including intolerance of cultural and religious diversity. For the past decade and more, the OIC has been successful in the adoption of a resolution on Defamation of Religions at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and at the UN General Assembly. The Resolution after the initial years, was however faced with opposition from the western countries who perceived it to be Islam centric and argued that its provisions were designed to restrict freedom of speech. We could feel that certain interest groups were active in giving a wrong twist to the spirit of the resolution by whipping fears and doubts among the common people that the OIC resolution went against western values as well as accusations of being anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. These accusations were nothing more than melodramatic rhetoric to undermine the OIC. I would like to reiterate here that our objective in tabling the resolution was to combat intolerance based on religion and faith and to find a working mechanism so that freedom of speech to which we are all committed, is not abused to incite hatred and intolerance including violence. The OIC continued to remain engaged with its western counterparts with alternate drafts and proposals to reach a consensus that would meet the concerns of both sides and to take a common position that would help in combating interfaith intolerance. In my address to the 15th Session of the High Level Segment of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2010, I underscored eight points that I believed could contribute in a positive manner in combating intolerance, hatred, racial discrimination based on religion and faith and lead to a common path in addressing the issue through dialogue, mutual respect and understanding. I was happy to see that my proposals went well with all parties and found place in the historic consensual adoption of UN HRC Resolution 16/18 in Geneva in 2011 under the title “Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion and belief”. Resolution 16/18 was a landmark event as it proved that the international community was united in combating intolerance and bigotry among peoples of diverse populations. The US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and I took the initiative in this historic city of Istanbul last July to launch the Istanbul Process. We were joined by the Foreign Ministers of OIC and European countries as well international organizations including Baroness Catherine Ashton of the EU and representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The relevance of 16/18 was upheld by the international community when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly Resolution 66/167 last year and again by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in its 19th Session held in March, 2012. It is now for us to truly devote ourselves to implement the resolution in its letter and spirit. We must not allow ourselves to be coerced by the extremist elements who are doing their best to distort it and motivate public opinion against it. There is no alternative to dialogue and developing understanding among cultures and religions in our present day world that is marked by diversity. The culture of peace that we seek has to be an enduring process. This is what we owe to our future generation and we have to do our best to ensure it for them. I thank you for your attention.

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