Participants of the international conference discuss historical springs of tolerance in Russia

The “round tables” “Islam in the East and in the West: dialogue of civilizations”, “Islam in history and culture of poly-confessional Russia” and “Russian diplomacy in the East” are held within the frames of the international scientific-practical conference “Russia and Islamic world: history and prospects of civilized interaction”, held on March 25 in the Congress-Hall, Ufa. The Professor Aide Merlin from the Free University of Brussels and the candidate of historical sciences, a docent of the Bashkir State University Ramil Rakhimov are the moderators of the “round table” “Islam in history and culture of poly-confessional Russia”, which many scientists from Russia and foreign countries take part in.

“Our conference is devoted to the 120th anniversary of the prominent Soviet diplomat Karim Khakimov” – Ramil Rakhimov said – “But we are discussing a wider circle of problems, considering the interaction of Russia, European countries and countries of the Middle East as the contacts of nations and cultures as well as the influence of the Islamic factor upon this interaction. The actuality of this discussion is evident and from the point of view of the latest events in the Middle East it is just growing. Our section examines the role of Islam in history and culture of poly-confessional Russia, starting from the XVII century. But we aren’t going to concentrate only on the Islamic factor but this is a general talk about Russian nations, preaching Islam. We examine how the system of cultural interaction in Russian Empire, in the Soviet Union and in post-Soviet Russia was formed. The tolerance of the nations in Russia has its own historical roots and this subject is the main point of our discussion”.

Northern Caucasus is the sphere of scientific interests of the Professor Aide Merlin and her report is devoted to the political use of Islam in post-Soviet Chechnya.

“We can’t study the modern history of Europe without deep examination of Russia” – Aide Merlin said – “I think my new project will be devoted to the forthcoming Olympic Games in Sochi or, more exactly, to how the preparations for the Olympic Games concentrate various processes in development of modern Russia. I also intend to launch a new project, aimed at the comparison of the regions in Ural-Volga zone and the regions in North Caucasus”.