U.S. "Supports" Feb. 13 Peace and Harmony Conference in Kazakhstan

Officials say it accords well with U.S. "goals of engaging Islam"

Washington, February 7 - The U.S. supports the upcoming International Conference on Peace and Harmony to take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 13.

American officials and members of Congress said last week, "We regard the conference as a continuing effort to promote collaboration and coexistence between different ethnic groups," Representative Robert Wexler (D-FLA) said at the Washington-DC presentation of the upcoming meeting. "We certainly think that it is a very positive development and we wish it great success," he added.

The U.S. administration said it welcomes the initiative, too.

"The United States supports the planned conference, which accords well with our goals of engaging Islam," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on January 30.

At the conference in Almaty, presidents of Central Asian nations, as well as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and several dozen leaders of major Jewish organizations from the USA and Israel, will discuss ways to promote dialogue among nations, cultures and civilizations. They are expected to adopt a new Chapter of Peace and Stability and establish a Forum to pursue dialogue.

The conference was presented in Washington, DC, on January 29 at an event held jointly by the Kazakhstan Embassy, EuroAsian Jewish Congress and NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia.

Speaking at a presentation, Mark Levin, executive director of Washington, DC-based NCSJ (which stands for National Conference on Soviet Jewry), said he was "very comfortable" about going to Kazakhstan because there "Jews and Muslims have been living together side by side in peace and friendship for centuries." Mr. Levin said he would be part of the delegation of more than 70 leaders of the major Jewish organization going to Kazakhstan in mid-February. He said they "hope to see firsthand how the Kazakhstan's Jewish community is developing and to be able to talk to various leaders of the Kazakhstan's government and other governments of the region about ways in which we can work together" for peace and stability.
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