Mintimer Shaimiev: ‘The cruellest and bloodiest wars break up with a motto of fight for religious values’
A plenary session of UNESCO: Development Strategy of Culture, Science and Education in Context of New Humanism international conference took place on 14 September at the Kazan Federal University. During the event, the invited speakers talked about threats posed to humankind that impede to conserve cultures of peoples of the world. Particularly the state adviser to the Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev delivered a speech about a growing crisis of spirituality and national problems in the republic that he had to solve during his presidency.
KFU will find a new Earth for humankind and present the world eco-oil
The plenary session with the KFU rector Ilshat Gafurov, state adviser to the Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev, Secretary General of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Grigory Ordzhonikidze and other speakers, which took place on 14 September, is a part of an international forum called Preserving Humanity as Imperative for Sustainable Development, which is held from 14 to 16 September. In the first Tatarstan President's opinion, the topic of the forum is not only significant and topical but also life changing for all humankind.
The rector of the Kazan Federal University was the first person to deliver a speech in front of the listeners. It should be noted the events of the forum were held at the main university of the republic. In his speech, Gafurov told how the Kazan university replied to the main challenges of the modernity and chose five priority areas for development: medicine, IT, social and humanitarian researches, and, curiously, oil and space technologies.
'Creation and refine of carbohydrates is one of the areas. And we consider them all if only they are environmentally friendly. This is why we named our next unit 'eco-oil', the rector told. 'It is a reply to a contradiction between two global challenges: the first is connected with the rise in energy consumption, and the second one threatens to increase the use of hydrocarbon fuel.'
Gafurov told that space technologies are an 'astro challenge'. In the rector's opinion, such researches will help humankind to forecast possible cosmic threats and create a protection system. Moreover, development of this area will favour the detection and development of new habitats for the population of our planet.
National issue in Tatarstan: resolved conflicts and peace agreements
The report of the state adviser to the Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev was dedicated to the crisis of spirituality in the society that inevitably leads to the fall of moral, growth of tension in international relations, xenophobia, dangerous ethnic or religious conflicts, terrorism and local wars.
'The crisis of spirituality as a challenge to the humanitarian safety is extremely dangerous for humankind and even the life on the planet. We witness how the cruellest and bloodiest wars break up with a motto of a fight for religious values. The world community and Muslim world have faced a terrorism they have never seen before. Terrorists are desecrating Islam and tarnishing this influential world religion,' told the state adviser.
Mintimer Shaimiev: 'The crisis of spirituality as a challenge to the humanitarian safety is extremely dangerous for humankind and even the life on the planet. We witness how the cruellest and bloodiest wars break up with a motto of a fight for religious values'. Photo: shaimiev.tatarstan.ru
Speaking about the dialogue of civilisations and cultures, Shaimiev remembered that there was only one Tatar school at the very beginning of Perestroika in the capital of Tatarstan. However, the national intelligentsia started to actively raise the question on the conservation of the culture by going on strikes and making their own claims.
'People remembered their history, remembered about their rights and thought about it. As a presidential candidate, I met a great number of people. I will never forget how the Russian-speaking population worried. They asked: 'What will happen? The national Tatar intelligentsia has risen. It is requiring independence'. I still think that the fact the Russian-speaking population's eyes stopped being full of fear any more was the greatest achievement at that moment,' Shaimiev told.
Another cautionary tale that the state adviser to the Tatarstan President told was connected with the preparation for the celebration of Kazan's 1,000-year birthday. As soon as it was told about the reconstruction of the Annunciation Cathedral and recreation of the Kul Sharif Mosque, the society had many discussions and attempts to worsen the situation. However, the administration of the republic managed to resolve any possible conflicts. The deputy chairman of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Aleksander Dzasokhov could not help but comment the report of the first Tatarstan President.
'Let us ask ourselves a question: 'If all people were so careful about basic values of a person's life from respect for traditions, conservation of landmarks and bringing talents to light?' In modern Russia, Tatarstan is an example of high culture in this respect. Tatarstan is lucky to have such heads,' the speak told.
'But is the war in Syria only a terrorist and not a world war?'
Dzasokhov offered the participants to go deeper and drew their attention to the Syrian issue. In his opinion, Syria is a complex of civilisations – it is where Christianity originated and Islamic holy places are located.
'Despite it, the country is attacked. Saudi Arabia tells Syria in this situation: 'Follow our example'. Turkey is dictating its own rules. The West has its own opinion. The Syrian issue is topical. I don't want to say loud words. But is the war in Syria only a terrorist and not a world war?' Dzasokhov addressed the public.
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, president of public organisation 'Women's Future' International Womens' Centre Aleksandra Ochirova also supported the military problem. The guest drew attention of the listeners to that now everybody is living in a special period when growing opportunities for getting knowledge and develop combine with different challenges and risks that humankind faces in a difficult way. As for the challenges, Ochirova meant wars destroying the culture of peoples and taking millions of lives. In the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador's opinion, the change of the entrenched political form is one of the solutions.
'We must let morality enter politics, national law and the documents that international organisations adopt in order to protect life on earth,' resumed Ochirova.