DOHA, 1 March 2006 — The UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations conference ended here yesterday after three days of deliberations on a host of issues to bring about rapprochement and co-existence of different cultures and religions and overcome fanaticism, the Qatari news agency QNA reported.
Participants of the conference stressed that ignorance breeds conflict between civilizations and that extremism was present all over the world and in all cultures.
Addressing a press conference at the end of the meeting, former UNESCO director Federico Mayor Zaragoza called on the UN, the EU and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to support the dialogue between cultures and civilizations by taking actions to deal with political and religious issues such as the recent publication in Western papers of blasphemous cartoons that have caused uproar in the Muslim world.
Zaragoza said just 3 percent of Muslims protested against the cartoons angrily whereas the reactions of over 97 percent were peaceful. He said he regretted that the media had chosen to highlight only violent protests. “There is a need to present balanced visions in media and support the communication between religions, cultures and nations,” said Mayor Zaragoza.
Turkish State Minister Mohammad Eddin urged all religious and political figures worldwide to work with a spirit of tolerance to change the status quo and put an end to inter-fighting and killing. He said the freedom of expression is important but it is more important to protect the religious freedom and maintain respect to religious beliefs.
The Alliance of Civilizations was launched in response to a request from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to overcome misperceptions between cultures, especially the Muslim world and the West.
