Speech by the delegation of Tunisia

 
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate


Your Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,
King Abdallah Bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia,
Your Majesties,
Your Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
Your Excellency Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,

It is my distinct pleasure to express my most sincere thanks and consideration to our brother the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdallah Bin Abdulaziz, for hosting us in these Holy Places, the site of revelation and the cradle of the prestigious Islamic civilization. I wish to pay tribute to the comprehensive growth and remarkable achievements made for the brotherly Saudi people under his successful leadership, commending the efforts exerted by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its role in promoting joint Islamic action.

I also would like to express to His Excellency Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference our satisfaction as to his firm determination to improve the performance of our Organization, and his initiatives aimed at developing its institutions.

As we meet today in response to a kind invitation by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we are keen on reviewing the critical situation of our Islamic Nation, and looking into the optimum ways and means whereby to meet challenges, driven by the determination to unify our will and join our efforts in order to elaborate an Islamic vision that will help us meet our Summit objectives.

The values of moderation, the golden mean, and tolerance, as well as the adoption of dialogue in dealing with the other, and the acquisition of sciences and knowledge, constitute essential foundations of our sublime religion, with which our action has been elevated and the message of Islam has been disseminated in all parts of the world.

Today, we are called on to develop and enrich this message, and to endeavor to highlight its lofty dimensions and sublime aims, in order to preserve forever its purity and noble objectives, and protect it against false interpretations and erroneous exegeses.

It is in this context that we launched our initiatives, within the framework of this prestigious Organization, for the creation of a mechanism to prevent, manage and settle conflicts, the adoption of a code of conduct to fight fanaticism and extremism, and the establishment of the Tunis Peace Forum.

It is in the same context that Tunisia hosted, last month, the World Summit on the Information Society, with the participation of all sisterly Islamic countries.

I avail myself of this occasion to renew my sincere thanks to all our brothers who honored us with their presence in the Summit, and contributed to the success of its proceedings. I am convinced that they will spare no effort to implement its recommendations concerning the reduction of the digital divide among nations, at a time when the digital culture has become an indispensable tool to achieve progress and stimulate the action of development in our countries.

We are certain that the Organization of the Islamic Conference will work to follow up the implementation of the results of the Tunis Summit on the Information Society, which will contribute to further promoting investment in the technological field in our countries.

Distinguished Gentlemen,

Our Islamic world is going through a stage of rapid developments, some of which has had a negative impact on our countries’ stability and development efforts, and undermined the shining image of our sublime religion. We are all aware of the dangerous extremist trends that impede our process, and are offered support by various parties that seek to distort the image of Islam and harm our relations with the others, and endeavor to influence certain media which did not hesitate to disseminate their doctrines calling for hatred and the rejection of dialogue, and sowing the seeds of discord in Islamic countries. This requires us today to coordinate our efforts in order to set right this process, which will serve our future generations and protect them against the dangers of extremism and withdrawal into oneself, on the one hand, and make known our religion’s true values and highlight their complementarity with the common universal values, on the other hand. This will reinforce our effective contribution to ensuring coexistence among all individuals, sects and peoples, and to enriching dialogue among all religions, cultures and civilizations.

Aware as we are of these challenges, we have, since 1991, called our brothers the Leaders of Islamic countries in the ministerial meeting held in Istanbul and during the Dakar Summit, to address this phenomenon which is strange to our societies, and to adopt a code of conduct for the fight against fanaticism and extremism. This code was indeed adopted by the 7th Summit Conference held in 1994.

Extremism and withdrawal into oneself do constitute an international danger that is not specific to one particular country or religion. All members of the international community should join their efforts to put an end to this behavioral deviation with all its political, economic and security dimensions. In this regard, the initiative of sisterly Saudi Arabia concerning the establishment of an international center for the fight against terrorism constitutes an effective contribution toward establishing a strategy to contain this dangerous phenomenon.

We are a nation of moderation, the golden mean, and openness on, and interaction with, the other. We are capable of joining the process of modernity and progress, while preserving our religious and cultural identity, pursuing the entrenchment of enlightened education in our curricula, adapting to the most modern developments in the fields of knowledge, sciences and technologies, promoting our human resources and scientific research in all fields of development, enlarging the scope of commercial exchanges among Islamic countries, exploring further investment opportunities therein, reinforcing the activities of the Islamic chamber for commerce and industry, and consolidating cooperation, solidarity and complementarity among our countries; thus ensuring glory and invulnerability for Islam and Muslims.

In Tunisia, we have endeavored to consecrate this orientation in the legal text and in practice, in all sectors of development, for all the components of the Tunisian people, and in our foreign relations with sisterly and friendly countries.

Intellectual, religious, cultural and scientific conferences and meetings are regularly held in our country, highlighting the enlightened message of Islam which calls for action and diligence and the acquisition of sciences and knowledge, and advocates moderation, mutual understanding, and tolerance in human relations.

As part of the Tunis Peace Forum, our country has established a program, with various themes and objectives, for the organization of those international conferences and meetings, in coordination with the Organization of Islamic Conference and its various institutions; the aim being to highlight the true civilizational dimension of Islam and its generous contribution to building human civilization. In this regard, we have established an annual award to the best intellectual work serving our sublime religion.

We are aware that the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which has competently contributed to promoting cooperation among our countries and societies over the past four decades, needs today a new strategy to develop its structures and work methods, and to keep up which the time and its changes. This is indeed a crucial issue that requires all of us to deepen consultation and the exchange of ideas, in order to define the contours of this strategy and enrich it.

No doubt, dedication to the development and modernization of our societies requires us to step up efforts in order to find just and lasting solutions to the chronic issues that are still a source of concern to the Islamic Nation. The Palestinian cause represents a big challenge to the international conscience, given the persisting tragedy the Palestinian people has been suffering for more than half a century. While commending the efforts exerted by the current Palestinian leadership to establish peace in the region, we hope these efforts will be sustained, in order to ensure the implementation of the Roadmap and the Arab Peace Initiative. This will open up a new era of security and cooperation among all the peoples of the Middle-East region. We also hope the brotherly people of Iraq will enjoy security and stability so as to devote its efforts to the reconstruction of its country, within a context of entente and unity.

To conclude, I hope our Summit will succeed in achieving results serving the causes of our Islamic peoples and contribution to reinforcing their invulnerabilty, progress and prosperity.

Thank you for your attention.

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