Russia woos Islamic world in quest for OIC membership

Russia woos Islamic world in quest for OIC membership

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Russia, the former communist superpower, has said it wants to
join the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). One may wonder
that a country like Russia, whose population is mostly secular,
truly intends to join the world's leading Islamic organization.

Yet, it is true. Russia wants to join the OIC because of the
growing importance of Islam and its 1.3 billion followers in
world affairs, and to enhance cooperation with Islamic nations,
said Russian Ambassador at Large Veniamin Popov.

Popov, who came to Jakarta last week as part of a global
mission to boost Russia's relations with the Islamic world, told
The Jakarta Post and Kompas in an exclusive interview that
Russia, home to some 20 million Muslims, qualifies in all aspects
as an OIC member.

"If a country like Guyana, whose Muslim population is just 9
percent of its total population, can become an OIC member, why
not Russia, whose Muslim population is higher than the total
number of Muslims in Malaysia and several Asian and African
Muslim states?" said Popov.

In fact, some OIC members have a Muslim population that is
just under 20 percent of the national population. For example,
Gabon, whose Muslim population is about 4 percent of its total
population, became an OIC member in 1974. (see table)

The Post asked Popov the reasons behind the Russian foreign
policy to woo the Muslim community.

"In the post-Sept. 11 world, especially among Western
countries, there are negative perceptions about Muslims. But
Russia believes Muslims have nothing to do with terrorism and in
every religion, we have extremist groups that resort to violence
and kill innocent people. We advocate a 'dialog of civilizations'
to solve these existing conflicts," he said, adding that Islam
was the youngest, peaceful religion.

He rejected the assertion of some analysts that Russia wanted
to exploit the growing anti-American sentiment among Muslims.

"This is not true. We want to improve our overall relations
with the Islamic world, and economic ties cannot be excluded in
this context."

Popov, who admires Indonesia's Pancasila state philosophy and
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) concept, said
terrorists had no religion and no nationality.

"They are enemies of humankind," he said.

Russia, which is a pluralistic society, wants to learn more
about moderate Islam and peaceful coexistence among various
religions from Indonesia, Popov said.

Thanks to a higher birth rate, the world's Muslim community
has also been growing faster than those of other religions.

"Within five to six years, the total number of Muslims may be
equal the total number of Christians."

According to The Vatican Yearbook 2000, there are 1.9 billion
Christians (Protestant) and 1.45 billion Catholics across 239
countries.

At present, there are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, or 20
percent of the human population, and their numbers are growing at
a tremendous pace -- in 1900, there were only 200 million Muslims
in the world, or 12.3 percent of the human population.

Russia is no exception to this trend. Due to the religious
revival after the fall of communism, all major religious
communities have been expanding. Russia's 20 million Muslims now
constitute about 13 percent of its 150 million-strong population.

"In 1991, there were 800 mosques in Russia. Now their number
has gone up to over 7,000. Even in Moscow, we have one million
Muslims in a population of 10 million," Popov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Popov, is very
keen to improve relations with the 57-member OIC, which includes
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

In August 2003, Putin established a new division, the Islamic
Factor, under the ministry of foreign affairs.

Popov is head of the Islamic Factor division.

Russia was admitted as a guest to the 10th OIC summit in
October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Putin roused Islamic
leaders to an ovation when he said terrorism should not be
equated with any religion.

Russia will continue with its efforts to obtain observer
status in the OIC and later, full membership, Popov said.

"With only a 5 percent Muslim population, Thailand achieved
observer status in the OIC in 1998. I think Russia will also get
it."

Russia is also planning to establish an Islamic university in
Moscow this year.

During his stay in Jakarta, Popov met with Vice President
Hamzah Haz and other government figures, as well as religious
leaders from the largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama
and the Muhammadiyah.