Senate Speaker Ashimbayev warns of growing threat of existential threats

It is unacceptable to manipulate religious feelings of believers, Chairman of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament Maulen Ashimbayev said it at the 21st session of the Secretariat of the World and Traditional Religions’ Leaders in Astana, Kazinform Agency reports.

According to him, while religious leaders demonstrate an example of successful dialogue and mutual understanding, disagreements and conflicts keep rising in the global politics.

“We see a growth in geopolitical rivalry of major powers and an erosion in the global security system. Unfortunately, the efforts to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine and other hot zones do not give any results. We are all concerned about the serious escalation [of the situation - edit] in the Middle East, the aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which led to multiple deaths among the civilians. In these conditions we call for a search of political instruments for the solution of the situation in a peaceful manner, without taking the actions that could lead to further escalation and expansion of the conflict,” said Ashimbayev addressing the participants of the session.

In his words, effectiveness of the international efforts on overcoming the global strategic challenges is decreasing.

“Amid the current acute crises, the issues of sustainable development, climate change, biological threats, nuclear disarmaments and other fundamental threats recede into the background. The danger of these existential threats is growing. To overcome them, joint efforts of the entire global community is required. The spread of the language of hatred and hostility remains a serious threat. Of great concern are the actions of provocateurs trying to manipulate the religious feelings of believers. Burning holy books, insulting religious symbols is an act of vandalism, which incites hostility between peoples and religions,” noted the Senate Speaker.

In his words, it is crucial to find the approaches to strengthening the global dialogue and trust.

“It is evident that morality crisis lays behind most problems of the modern world. Pursuit of material success, consumer attitude towards nature and people around, devaluation of moral priorities destructively affect human society. In these conditions, the role of the world and traditional religions has a great importance. Kazakhstan firmly intends to continue to assist in unification of the religious leaders’ efforts to address the most pressing problems the international community faces today,” he concluded.