International conference on oriental studies to be held in St. Petersburg

The tenth international conference "Russia and Arab world: Islam and Orthodoxy - a Dialogue and Mutual Assimilation of the Two Cultures" will be held in the Russian Academy of Sciences' library in St. Petersburg.

The conference was organised by the mission of the Arab League states in the Russian Federation, the Russian National Library and the Saudi Academy in Moscow.

According to the organising committee of the event, among the conferees there will be diplomats, scholars and cultural figures from St. Petersburg and Moscow. At the opening of the conference, envoy of the Arab League countries to Russia Said al-Barami will greet the conference with his opening remarks.

The conference will spotlight one of the most topical problems of modern world - contacts between different confessions and cultures. Scholars' reports will elaborate on scientific, cultural, economic and political Russo-Arab ties, Islam on Russia's territory and Orthodoxy in Arab countries, images of Arabs and Arab countries in Russian and West European literature and art.

The conference in the northern capital is timed for the 10th anniversary of the Independent Russo-Arab Cultural Centre in St. Petersburg. Besides, it will coincide with the 120th anniversary of the birth of famous scientist of Arab studies academician Ignaty Krachkovsky and the 120th anniversary of the Orthodox Palestine Society, which contributed greatly to Palestinian studies.