Prospects of interaction of Bashkortostan with Arab world were discussed in Ufa

The prospects of interaction between Bashkortostan and the Arab world were discussed today by the participants of the news-conference at the Clerical Muslim Dept RB and the returning of our delegation from Egypt was the main reason for meeting with the mass-media.

“Preparation for this tour began several months ago” – the chairman of the Clerical Muslim Dept RB, mufti Nurmuchamet Nigmatullin reported – “At that the Bashkir delegation faced several aims at once: acquaintance with the life of the students from our Republic, educating at the International Islamic University “Al-Azkhar” and rendering of all possible assistance, organization of the photo-exhibition about Bashkortostan and the meeting with the representatives of the Russian diplomatic service in Egypt”.

The staff of the Bashkir delegation consisted of six people, including the deputy chairman of the Clerical Muslim Dept RB re education, external and public relations Ruslan Sayakhov, the Vice-President of the Charitable Fund by Kinza Arslanov Salavat Ulbarisov and the chairman of the Union of Photo-Painters RB Ramil Kilmamatov. For the first time the staff of such delegation included women – the public activists of our Republic, who in the course of the trip went deeply into the needs of our girls, studying in Cairo.

In the town of Hurghada the members of Bashkir delegation have organized the photo-exhibition “Bashkortostan is the pearl of Russia” at the first Russian school in Egypt.

“We’ve also held the official negotiations with the director of the Russian Science and Culture Center in Cairo Alexander Babenko” – Ruslan Sayakhov reported – “He suggested that we should hold the Days of Bashkortostan in Egypt”.

“Holding of such action would in many respects contribute to consolidation of interrelations between Bashkortostan and the Arab world” – Nurmuchamet Nigmatullin said – “We’ll do everything possible to organize such festival in Egypt and will try to attract the Ministry of culture and national politics RB and other profiled ministries to its organization”.

The endowment the Muslim clergy RB is able to make to development of the interrelations between our Republic and the countries of the Arab world can hardly be overestimated, Ruslan Sayakhov said – “The matter is that we speak to the Islamic states the language, more understandable for them than that of the secular structures and we are ready to become the conductors of our culture in the Muslim world”.

The members of the delegation RB have also held the meeting with the representatives of the Russian Embassy in Egypt and the matter was the destiny of Russian students, studying in Egypt. One of the problems, common for all Russian students in Cairo, is the lack of information about the events in Russia. The majority of the students have no chance to watch Russian TV and read Russian newspapers. This isolation and the absence of any control over the majority of the students represent the threat that some of them, while staying in Egypt, can fall under the influence of different undesirable religious tendencies, having nothing in common with that traditional Islam, preached in Russia for many centuries.

“The tragic events, having occurred in Moscow and Dagestan, show again that we mustn’t leave our students in Egypt without control” – Ruslan Sayakhov said – “There are many organizations in the world, trying to shield their criminal activity with the ideas of Islam and we mustn’t admit that some of our students would fall under their influence while being abroad”.

The students from Bashkortostan, studying at “Al-Azkhar” today, face many problems but money is the most essential. Studying abroad costs much, the Clerical Muslim Dept RB helps the students materially, some of the them receive local scholarships but the main expenses lay either on the students themselves or on their parents and because of that some of the students are forced to leave their education on a half way. Though the number of young people, wishing to study at “Al-Azkhar” is high enough, the graduates of this University are practically absent in the Republic. Only five people have the diplomas of “Al-Azkhar” in Bashkortostan now.