Moroccan minister in Istanbul's OIC-EU forum on harmonization of cultures
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 2/12/2002

Moroccan minister of habous (Islamic endowments) and Islamic affairs, Abdelkebir Alaoui M'daghri, arrived in Istanbul on Monday to take part in the joint forum on harmonization of cultures held by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the European Union (EU).

The two-day forum, titled "Civilization and harmony: the political dimension," will bring together delegates of 71 countries to contribute to promoting rapprochement between the Muslim world and the west, following the misunderstandings triggered by last September's attacks against the U.S.A.

Opening the forum this Tuesday, Turkish foreign minister, Ismael Cem, insisted that terrorism has no religion nor borders. He explained that the tragedy of September has produced evidence to the vulnerability of bases for understanding between cultures and civilizations and the easiness with which deeply-rooted pre-conceived ideas re-appear.

Turkey is member of the OIC and candidate to become member of the EU.

The OIC secretary general, Abdelouahed Belkziz, denounced a tendency in western countries to wrongly associate terrorism with Islam. He called for the creation of institutions and bodies contributing to inter-culture and inter-civilization dialogue.

The forum will be addressing several topics, mainly prevention of political and cultural divides, facing shared challenges and how to know the other.

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