Kazakhstan partakes in the conference for Islamic scholars in Istanbul

Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the conference has given an influential speech calling the Muslim world to unite and act for the establishment of peace, leaving aside all sectarian differences. Starting his speech with a referral to Surat Al-Hujurat from the Holy Qur'an, Erdoğan stated that God orders believers to make peace with each other as the entire Muslim nation is a single brotherhood, without any distinction for caste, creed or color and noted that it is crucial for Muslims to stop killing each other. "We cannot see the application of these orders throughout the Muslim world" said Erdoğan, who noted there is serious conflict in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Myanmar, Central African Republic and more. He added that Muslims are like brothers and sisters to each other and should not betray one another, lie to one another or steal their belongings, honor and lives. Erdoğan also referred to the terrorist organizations which claim to act on behalf of Islam such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and criticized them for attacking and slaughtering fellow Muslims based on sectarian differences. He noted that it is crucial for Muslims to do self-criticism, with special emphasis on Muslim scholars and expressed the current situation in the Muslim world is one that is strictly forbidden by the Holy Qur'an as Muslims are killing each other on the one hand, while they remain silent as other Muslims are being killed. World Islamic Scholars Peace, Moderation and Commonsense Initiative was organized by the Directorate of Religious Affairs to call on the Islamic world to end bloodshed and chaos in the region, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, while noting that simply condemning the clashes in Iraq, Syria and the Muslim world is not enough. The initiative encourages Islamic scholars and Muslim wise men to immediately work to bring an end to violence in the region while leaving aside sectarian differences.