Moscow, May, 28, 2018. (1st day) The final statement of the international conference ”Situation of Ethnic and Religious Minorities in the Multinational Region”

We, the representatives of civil society, of Russian and Middle Eastern academic and expert comunity, of Eurasian and Middle Eastern peoples, the followers of traditional religious groups, have met in Moscow to emplement public diplomacy purposes. We appeal to national and international cultural, political and economical elites, as well as to public opinion leaders.

Escalation of wars and political conflicts in the Middle East seriously threats the very existence of ethnical and religious minorities. It makes immense harm to the most important values the people of this region have – their culture and millennia-old experience in intercultural cooperation.The region risks turning into a cultural and social desert, which will certainly become a global loss.

We stand for preservation of traditional cultures and for restoration of the heritage that we have lost. We stand for defending and preserving ethnical and religious minorities without segregation, we stand for integration of minorities in all kinds of social and civil activities without assimilation. We advocate the protection of ethnic and religious minorities without segregation and for their integration into all spheres of the life of societies and states without assimilation and the imposition of alien cultural and historical values.

But this requires a holistic study and understanding of unique cultures both by their representatives themselves and by people from other cultures and spheres, including people of science and art. Through working with the cultures and cultural heritage of the ethnic and religious minorities of the Middle East and Caucasus, the world’s leading states will be able to understand a great deal in their own cultures and use new opportunities.

Through all history, representatives of national and ethno-religious minorities have always played a huge role in the formation and development of their states, held high posts, became leaders of large political nations, made breakthroughs in science and technology, social and economic development, while remaining carriers of their own unique cultures. So it was before, so it will be in the future, if we preserve and develop national cultures in our countries.

Extremism and terrorism destroy the most important thing for a human soul – living cultures which are necessary not only for local states, but for the humanity. We urge to end all forms of extremism and terrorism, to promote in every way the cessation of the war, the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East and in neighboring regions.