VI INTERNATIONAL FORUM
"Public Dialogue: Russia and the Arab World"

The VI International Forum "Public Dialogue: Russia and the Arab World" organized by the Russia Muftis Council and the Public Forum of Arab Culture in cooperation with the Embassy of Lebanon in Russia will be held in Moscow on September 5, 2018. Previously the event took place in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Russia. It is noteworthy that the Russian Forum held in 2016 was devoted to the protection of Christians in the Middle East.

The forum will be attended by scholars, well-known cultural figures, representatives of official state institutions and business communities, prominent social and religious figures from the Arab countries, as well as representatives of Arab communities from the UK, Canada, the USA and France.

The distinguished guests of the forum will include Hussein Aziz Shaaban (general director of the Information Centre for International and Humanitarian Law in Beirut); Wedad Boushmawi (president of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Crafts, holder of the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the establishment of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia during the Jasmine Revolution in 2011); Malik Abdul Karim Shaar (the Mufti of Tripoli and Northern Lebanon); Atallah Nizar Hanna (Bishop of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church); Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah Ali Al-Makabi (advisor at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf of the Kingdom of Bahrain); Sami Kleib (a Lebanese journalist and author of several books and monographs on political developments in the Middle East); Yousef Mohammed Ahmed Taha Zeidan (an Egyptian writer and poet); Farhan Jawahar Qadir Mala (Iraqi social and political activist) and Abdullah Al-Husani )(diplomat, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Oman in Russia). In addition, the Forum will also be attended by the heads of diplomatic missions of Arab and Muslim countries in Russia.

The representatives of the Russia Muftis Council, the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State Pedagogical University, the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Moscow State University, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and others will take part in the event.

Two discussion sections will be organized within the framework of the Forum: "Maintaining interfaith dialogue is the most important task at present" and "Russia and the Arab world: ways of approaching and cooperation dimensions".

The first section will be devoted to establishing and maintaining the interfaith dialogue.

The second section will focus on the analysis of the opportunities for cooperation aimed at establishing peace and harmony, maintaining a dialogue between representatives of various social and cultural communities to ensure the sustainable development of Russia and the Arab countries in the context of strengthening their productive cooperation.

The Forum will also treat issues related to the experience of the Russian Federation in the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East, new positive methods to counter global challenges and the development of a peace-loving society.

The event will start at 10.00 on September 5 at the conference hall of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.

Registration of media representatives will take place only upon prior accreditation, on September 5 from 9.30 to 9.50 am.

For media accreditation please email at: gulnur.muslim@mail.ru before 8 pm on September 4, 2018.

For enquiries call 8 903 6228373 (Gulnur Gazieva),
head of the RMC press service.