Mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, head of Russia Muftis Council and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, met with the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Turkey in Russia Umit Yardım in RMC residency.

The official meeting was carried out in a warm and friendly manner. Spiritual leader of Russian Muslims informed his guests on the progress of the decoration works in the Moscow Jum'ah Mosque that our Turkish brothers are directly relevant to.

The parties discussed the main issues that were raised during the mufti's visit to Turkey in December 2014, when RMC delegation headed by mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin paid a visit to Turkey on the invitation of the mufti of Turkey and the Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Turkish Republic Prof. Mehmet Görmez. On December 16, he and Görmez discussed a number of important issues, including the prospects of furthering cooperation between our countries in the spheres of Islamic education and publishing, building mosques throughout Russia.

The parties expressed their solidarity concerning the events in France and condemned all forms of terrorism and radicalism as well as expressed their strong disapproval of sacrilege and insulting other people's religious feelings.

Mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin highly spoke of the regular advanced courses for Russian imams. Russia Muftis Council annually sends imams to Turkey for advanced courses as per the memorandum of understanding and cooperation signed between Russia Muftis Council and the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey.

Within the course of these studies, Russian imams attend lectures about the rules of the correct recitation of the Holy Qur'an, Islamic jurisprudence and other Islamic sciences. For Russian imams, it's an excellent opportunity to raise their level of expertise in various areas of Islamic knowledge in accordance with Russia's traditional Hanafi madhab (theological school).

Mr Umit Yardım spoke highly of the level of cooperation and assured the Russian party in their continued dedication to support RMC and SAMRF events.

Both parties expressed their readiness to strengthen ties between the people of Russia and Turkey.