[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING KAZAKHSTAN'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of my 
colleagues to the efforts of Kazakhstan, a predominantly Muslim secular 
nation that spares no effort to promote better understanding and 
dialogue between the Western world and the Islamic world. Some people 
may wonder why Kazakhstan would engage in such efforts and why it is 
succeeding in their efforts. I suggest they read a recent article by 
the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Kanat Saudabayev, published by the 
Institute on Religion and Public Policy so they may learn of 
Kazakhstan's experience in achieving these goals. I therefore ask 
unanimous consent of my colleagues to introduce the article into the 
Congressional Record.

            [From www.religionandpolicy.org, Nov. 26, 2003]

                     We Call for Dialogue, Not Hate

                    (By Ambassador Kanat Saudabayev)

       Extremists often use religion to create hate and further 
     their selfish agendas which have nothing to do with religion. 
     But, all religions are similar in that they denounce 
     terrorism and teach tolerance, harmony and brotherhood.
       That was the message delivered to the world by participants 
     of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional 
     Religions, who gathered in Astana at the initiative of 
     Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of a secular Muslim-
     majority Kazakhstan. At the end of the Congress, senior 
     clerics from Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, 
     Hinduism, Taoism and other faiths adopted a declaration 
     stating, ``extremism, terrorism and other forms of violence 
     in the name of religion have nothing to do with genuine 
     understanding of religion, but are a threat to human life and 
     hence should be rejected.''
       ``Inter-religious dialogue is one of the key means for 
     social development and the promotion of the well-being of all 
     peoples, fostering tolerance, mutual understanding and 
     harmony among different cultures and religions,'' the 
     religious leaders said after the closing joint prayer.
       Far from the ``clash of civilizations'' many see as part of 
     the world's future, this Congress was a strong response to 
     all who spread intolerance, hate and terrorism. The Congress 
     also showed the world the noble goals of inter-religious 
     peace are very real and very achievable. There's convincing 
     evidence of this in Kazakhstan, where Muslims, Christians, 
     Jews, Buddhists and others live in peace with each other and 
     where freedom of religion is the crucial value of 
     our society. Pope John Paul 11 called Kazakhstan ``an 
     example of harmony between men and women of different 
     origins and beliefs.''
       Indeed, at the whim of often cruel fate in the past, 
     Kazakhstan, however paradoxically that may sound, has truly 
     become a center of unique diversity and tolerance.
       During much of the 20th century, Kazakhstan was under the 
     totalitarian domination of Soviet communism. The Soviets 
     conducted cruel experiments with our land and our people. The 
     forced settlement of the traditionally nomadic Kazakh people 
     was followed by a widespread famine in the 1930s. Coupled 
     with almost 500 nuclear tests during 40 years, this led to 
     deprivation, death and emigration of millions of ethnic 
     Kazakhs. In the 1940s, Stalin dumped hundreds of thousands of 
     Germans, Chechens, Koreans and others in Kazakhstan as his 
     regime deemed them untrustworthy in the face of the invading 
     Nazis in the West and the Japanese in the East. Thousands of 
     ethnic Russians and others were sent to Soviet concentration 
     camps, part of the Gulag, in Kazakhstan. Many Soviet Jews 
     were exiled to Kazakhstan for their religious beliefs. In the 
     1950s, more than a million ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, 
     Byelorussians came to Kazakhstan to farm under the Virgin 
     Lands program.
       In those difficult years, the native Kazakhs gave all these 
     people shelter and shared bread. Official Communist ideology, 
     however, did not encourage people in their natural yearning 
     for a religious life. Religious life was instead suppressed; 
     ancient mosques, churches, and synagogues were used as shops, 
     storage areas or even discos, rather than houses of worship.
       Religious reawakening and freedom of conscience returned to 
     Kazakhstan only after our independence. During the short 12 
     years, ancient mosques, churches and synagogues were restored 
     and hundreds of new ones built across the country. In 2002, 
     Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) put a cornerstone into the new 
     synagogue currently under construction in Astana. Today, 
     there are some 3,000 religious congregations representing 
     more than 40 religious denominations serving the needs of 100 
     different ethnic groups. Recently, President Nazarbayev 
     announced plans to build a single center in Astana which will 
     have houses of worship of many religions.
       This history of mutual respect and harmony is the 
     background which led President Nursultan Nazarbayev of 
     Kazakhstan to convene the recent Astana Congress. The eager 
     response of world's religious leaders to the call for the 
     Congress is a reflection of the respect they carry for the 
     President and his policies.
       This is also the reason why many leaders from the United 
     States and other countries have supported our endeavors to 
     build bridges between religions and civilizations.
       President George W. Bush, in his letter to President 
     Nazarbayev, said, ``For the United States, itself a multi-
     ethnic and religiously diverse nation, these meetings 
     underscore the importance of working with our friends in 
     Central Asia to advance the values of tolerance and respect 
     that form the foundation of democracy.''
       A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Congressmen in a 
     letter to President Nazarbayev called the Astana forum 
     ``Kazakhstan's worthy contribution to the promotion of peace 
     and harmony during these difficult times.'' Senators Sam 
     Brownback (R-KS) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), representatives 
     George Radanovich (R-CA), Joe Pitts (R-PA), Robert Wexler (D-
     FL), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Edolphus Towns (D-
     NY) and others also thanked Kazakhstan ``for taking 
     consistent and concrete steps to bridge the growing divide 
     between Muslims and Jews at a time when tension in the 
     Middle East is at a fulcrum, and intolerance and anti-
     Semitism are rising worldwide.''
       The recent report to Congress by the Advisory Group on 
     Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim worlds, led by 
     Edward Djerejian, points out the need for dialogue between 
     the Muslim and Western worlds is more important today than 
     ever before.
       Such a conclusion is obvious. Similarly obvious are 
     difficulties in putting it into practice.
       But the example of Kazakhstan, working well with the United 
     States, the West, and the Muslim world and speaking for 
     dialogue of religions and civilizations, gives us ground for 
     optimism that tolerance and mutual understanding, not hate 
     and violence, will prevail.

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