Kazakhstan Assembly of People observes 20th anniversary, says no equation between religion and terrorism

On the occassion of the 20th anniversary of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan (APK), the government of that country has once again reiterated its concern and desire to stop people from establishing an equation between religion and terrorism.

An official statement has said it is important to demonstrate that different religions, faiths and beliefs can co-exist peacefully, and that every effort must be made to make people involved in extremist activity to realize the value of both dialogue and human life.

It is a well known fact that Kazakhstan under the leadership of its President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been at the forefront of creating a unique institution such as the APK to unite different social institutions of the country.

President Nazarbayev is seen as the architect of the Kazakh model of inter-religious and inter-ethnic balance, and over the past nearly two-and-a-half decades, ensured that Kazakhstan has emerged as the venue for inter-cultural dialogue between civilizations with the objective of improving mutual understanding between the East and the West on key issues of the modern world.

In London, Kazakhstan operates a Center of Peace and Harmony, which presents a unique model of inter-ethnic tolerance and social harmony.

European languages have also published a special edition titled "Kazakhstan: the integrated matrix of unity and harmony."

When he visited Kazakhstan, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan described the country as an example of inter-ethnic harmony, stability, sustainable development for other countries.

Former Pope John Paul II praised the people of Kazakhstan during a a visit to that country in 2001.

Kazakhstan is a country of over 130 nationalities and 3000 religious associations representing more than 40 confessions. Over the past two decades, the authorities have created 22 national and regional national and cultural centers that bring together 470 organizations of different levels.

Kazakhstan has more than 100 national and 170 Sunday schools, where 23 native languages are promoted and learnt. In three schools of national revival, there are 29 departments for the study of 12 native languages.

These national cultural centers promote Azerbaijani, Armenian, Greek, Dungan, Jewish, Karachai-Balkar, Korean, German, Polish, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen and Ukrainian diasporas.

This year,Kazakhstan is going to hold the fifth Congress of World and Traditional Religions on June 10 and 11, 2015.

The core idea of the meeting will be to promote a dialogue between religious leaders and politicians in the name of peace and development.

Representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism and Hinduism, besides major international organizations will be among the participants.

The first Congress of World and Traditional Religions was held in Astana in September 2003, and was attended by representatives from 13 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The Congress of World and Traditional Religions is held once every three years.