Prospects of Peace and Conflict Resolution in OIC Member States
(22-24April 2019, Almaty)
Secretary General of the Turkic Council, Baghdad Amreyev participated in the International Seminar on "Islamic Rapprochement Initiative" organized by the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the “Al-Farabi” Kazakh National University on 22-24 April 2019 in Almaty.
The seminar was attended by the Deputy Secretary General of OIC, Ambassador Askar Mussinov, Assistant Secretary General for Al Quds Affairs of OIC, Ambassador Samir Bakr, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Ambassador Kairat Lama Sharif, Al Farabi Kazakh National University Rector (KazNU) Mr. Galym Mutanov and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Elders, representing United Arab Emirates, Mr. Ali Rashid Al-Nuam, as well as by representatives of the diplomatic corps in Kazakhstan, prominent scholars, experts and academicians.
Participants discussed the idea of Islamic rapprochement initiated by the Founding President of Kazakhstan, H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev and the President of Turkey, H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the 13th Islamic Summit held in Istanbul in 2016 with the aim of restoring impaired relations, building friendly ties between the OIC Member States and strengthening unity of the Islamic Ummah on the basis of goodwill and constructive approach for peaceful resolution of disputes; respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The Islamic Rapprochement Initiative, as stated in the Joint Declaration, was designed as a new paradigm of relations in the Islamic world with regard to interstate relations and will further contribute to resolution of conflicts and disputes. The Seminar provided intellectual exchanges on the possible ways to implement the Initiative.
In his addresses, Secretary General B. Amreyev pointed out that in a world passing through a very critical period in terms of growing number of so-called inter-Islamic conflicts, the main motivation behind the Islamic Rapprochement Initiative introduced jointly by Kazakhstan and Turkey on the eve of the 13th Islamic Summit held in Istanbul was advocating for OIC to assume an active role in promoting reconciliation among Muslim countries.
He underscored that, the number of armed conflicts has fallen by almost half since the end of the Cold War and the peace is breaking out except in the Islamic world.
Stressing that 60% of world’s armed conflicts are in the OIC geography, Secretary General stated that this should be a matter of serious concern and requires collective approach and strategy from within.
Although OIC has made significant efforts for handling existing conflicts in the OIC geography that have different forms and dynamics, he said, the Islamic Rapprochement Initiative, however,was the only mechanism that specifically addresses to inter-Islamic divisions as the main root cause of the conflicts in the Islamic world.
Secretary General B.Amreyev stated, that despite the inherent value of the Initiative, which might have shown that Islamic world could identify its own problems and deal with them through its own and unique dynamics, it has not yielded the expected outcomes due to the failure of OIC Member States at the time to address the root causes that had led to introduction of this Initiative.
The Speaker pointed out that all other problems of the Islamic world are less vital and destiny shaping in comparison of interstate divisions that the Islamic world has to deal with.
Comparing the current situation of the inter-islamic conflicts to a “sickness”, B.Amreyev has referred in this regard to a Kazakh proverb saying: “Whoever hides his sickness, will die.”
Secretary General also said, “If recovery is desired, then first thing for the Islamic world is to do diagnosing, then accepting the diagnosis, finding a proper treatment and finally implementing remedy”.
He noted in his address that, inter-state problems in the Islamic world nowadays are far less dramatic and existential in comparison with the confrontation that took place between the East and West alliances during the Cold War era. Recalling, in this regard the phenomenon of the détente process, that followed the peak of Cold War, Secretary General B.Amreyev emphasized that détente indeed a great mark of the humanity and international politics in history in terms of bringing two antagonistic worlds with contradicting ideologies, different political systems and cultures. He stressed that the Islamic world is capable of finding a similar path.
Secretary General stated, that following the adoption of the resolution of Islamic Rapprochement, OIC Members States decided to establish a Council of Wise Persons of OIC composed of eminent persons having wide recognition in the Muslim World as leaders, who are respected for their wisdom, experience, knowledge, impartiality, and ability to provide guidance to address these issues. He added that despite the promising efforts of the Council at earlier stages, OIC Member countries haven’t paid much closer attention and spared more concentrated effort.
B.Amreyev expressed his conviction that OIC is uniquely positioned to carry out this responsibility since it has assumed active position both within and outside Islamic geography adding that, the member countries that enjoy kind of neutrality can also help the Secretariat to succeed. He emphasized in addition that Kazakhstan is very well positioned considering its good relations established with the OIC Member States and could play a constructive role in this regard.
He also suggested to start with handling the less complicated problems first in order to utilize these incremental solutions as confidence building measures for resolving much complicated and historically persisting divisions. Secretary General B. Amreyev concluded his remarks by proposing that the idea of reanimating the Council of Wise Persons under the patronage of OIC Secretary General with a broader mandate and an empowered political standing to tap its greater potential would be most timely and crucially important for the Islamic world at this time of critical global transitions and heightened international conflicts.
Next days of the seminar sessions were dedicated to a general overview of conflicts in OIC Member States; root causes and effects of inter and intra Member States disputes; sectarianism; terrorism and proxy wars, on the history and dynamics of the long standing conflicts of Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir; contemporary conflicts; implications on regional and international security; prospects of durable peace and on suggestions of practical measures on confidence building and conflict resolution; addressing the root causes of conflicts; recommendations from best practices.
The participants also shared their experiences in the field of security, human rights, the rule of law, and got acquainted with the policy and the role of OIC in this matter.
