Toqayev Highlights Kazakhstan’s Role as Cultural Crossroads at Religious Leaders’ Congress

Qasym-Jomart Toqayev spoke at the VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, stressing that Kazakhstan has historically been a crossroads of cultures and civilizations, and will continue to make every effort to preserve this role, Orda.kz reports.

The president noted that extremely negative global trends are accelerating, with some experts already calling it a “crisis of civilization.” He recalled Rudyard Kipling’s words that "west is west, east is east, and never the twain shall meet."

On the surface, if we follow the latest events in a number of major states, such a conclusion may seem correct, but one should never ignore political factors, or in other words, the concept and practice of state building of the ruling authorities. Their policies are far from always rational, constructive in terms of developing peaceful affairs and interaction of cultures, religions, worldviews,
said the president.

The shift in concepts that is happening before our eyes is disorienting, first and foremost, the youth. On the other hand, we are seeing an alarming trend of a clash between right-wing conservative and liberal ideologies, which is leading to political destabilization in a number of countries.

Toqayev added that in Kazakhstan, global problems remain at the center of domestic policy. In this context, he also touched on the language issue, emphasizing the importance of maintaining interethnic and interreligious harmony.

According to the president, “any attempts to undermine this policy or restrict the use of languages in government service and public places will be stopped and assessed according to the law.”

Original Author: Zhadra Zhulmukhametova