UPDATE 2 - Kuala Lumpur Summit aims to solve Muslim world’s crises

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY QATARI EMIR, IRANIAN PRESIDENT

By Sorwar Alam, Riyaz ul Khaliq, Zehra Nur Duz and Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Leaders and officials from Muslim countries gathered in Malaysia’s capital Thursday to discuss the crises faced by the Muslim world and to find solutions.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad pointed out that the Muslim world is passing through "a state of crisis".

"Understanding the problems and their causes may enlighten us on the way to overcome or mitigate disasters that have befallen the Ummah," he added.

Mahathir, who is also chairman of the summit, said the objective of this year's event is "not to discuss religion, but the state of affairs in the Muslim world".

"We all know that the Muslims, their religion and their countries are in a state of crisis. Everywhere, we see Muslim countries being destroyed, their citizens forced to flee their countries, forced to seek refuge in non-Muslim countries. Many thousands died during their flight, and many more were refused asylum," he said.

"We are attempting to start small. And if these ideas, proposals and solutions are acceptable and prove to be workable, then we hope to take it up to the larger platform for consideration."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and hundreds of government officials, businesspeople, representatives of civil societies and experts from different sectors across the Muslim world are participating in the three-day summit in different levels.

"We are not discriminating, or isolating anyone. We are attempting to start small in moving forward toward solving our problems," Mahathir added.

- Building bridges

Speaking at the event, the Iranian president stressed the importance of sovereignty of Muslim countries.

Rouhani praised the nation and government of Malaysia for organizing this summit and creating a valuable model of peaceful, cultural diversity as well as taking new steps for bridging the east and west of the Muslim world.

”The Muslim world is facing emerging challenges at the national and international level which have impeded development and progress,” Rouhani said.

Of them, cultural and identity crises are among the most significant challenges, he said.

Joint efforts to compensate under development in information and communication technology, moving toward national and regional communication networks, and increasing share of Muslim states in the digital economy constitutes the future roadmap in combating this crisis, he said.

He regretted the death and destruction in Palestine, Syria and Yemen and turbulence in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan, which he said, were the result of a combination of domestic radicalism and foreign interventions.

The Iranian leader criticized the U.S. for using economic sanctions as a tool to extend its hegemony.

He said that creation of special mechanisms for banking, financial cooperation among Muslims, and the use of national currency in mutual trade and commerce was the need of the hour.

- Respect, equality basis for solutions: Qatari emir

Urging the Muslim world to come together, Al Thani called for relations among states on the basis of respect and equality.

Al Thani said that the diverse Muslim world must disregard racial, national and sectarian differences in addressing issues that involve the wellbeing and sovereignty of the Muslim world.

“We can look to human rights and justice and be tolerant toward other beliefs, other nations, races,” he told the summit.

He said that cooperation among states will strengthen when “we avoid interfering in internal affairs of other countries”.

“We cannot make any settlement, long run solutions if it is not based on justice and there are many countries which do not understand this,” Al Thani said. “They just care about their own interests but not justice.”

Calling for adhering to “ethics of Islam”, the Qatari emir said that bigotry is not linked to any ideology or any culture “but it is being fed by favoritism”.

“We see double standards [of states] even in human rights… This has led to acceptance of war criminals; instead of issuing cases against [them], these people are being accepted,” he said.

Emphasizing on safety and stability in his region, the emir suggested “dialogue to solve the problems but on the basis of equality”.

“Respect everyone without making any difference and deal with people on the basis of rule of law,” he told the summit.

Al Thani also called on people to condemn the occupation of Palestine. “We cannot accept coercion and occupation of Palestine,” he said.