OSCE international conference in Kazakhstan to consider "the Islamic factor"

The International Conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will be held in Alma Ata on June 24th-25th with the participation of government members and parliamentarians of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states, by representatives of international organisations and non-governmental organisations, will discuss "the Islamic factor" in the social and political life of the Central Asian countries, reports the secretariat of the OSCE in Vienna.

In the opinion of the incumbent chairman of the OSCE and the Foreign Minster of Portugal Antonio Martinas de Cruz, "the Islamic factor" in the Central Asian region is acquiring a greater weight, but one should not put a sign of equality between this factor and the development of Islamic terrorism and extremism. "The Islamic factor", believes the head of the OSCE, "does not imply only confessional and political aspects, but also social, cultural and others." It is envisaged that the Alma Ata OSCE conference will also be attended by representatives of the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies, which functions under the patronage of the President of Kazakhstan, and also by a delegation of the European Commission in Kazakhstan.