OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Rep visits Central Asia

    On May 31, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia, Christine Muttonen, called for greater unity and cooperation across the OSCE area to counter violent extremism. The Austrian parliamentarian made the comments while expressing strong faith in inter-parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue.
    Speaking at the Religions against Terrorism conference in Astana, Muttonen noted the OSCE PA has become an important platform to support inter-faith dialogue. She stressed that promoting tolerance between religions is an essential aspect of the OSCE's efforts.
    “Today, our cooperation is more important than ever,” she said. “In a time when groups of violent extremists try to misuse religious beliefs to justify their terrorist attacks, when they try to divide our countries and societies along religious lines, when young people hope to find solutions to their social and economic problems within extremism and violence, when competing agendas and hostile rhetoric often threaten to replace productive dialogue and cooperation among our participating States, in such a time it becomes quite obvious: The level of peace, freedom and stability that we have achieved within the OSCE area cannot be taken for granted.”
    Muttonen’s participated in the conference during her week-long trip to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. She is accompanied by OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella. Their visit kicked-off on Monday with a series of high-level talks, the OSCE said. They met Chairman of the Kazakh Senate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Majilis Chairman, Baktykozha Izmukhambetov, and Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov.
    The Kazakhstan trip ends on Wednesday in Almaty, where she willmeet several prominent civil society representatives. They will focus on developments related to freedom of expression and assembly. Muttonen will continue her Central Asia tour with a trip to Kyrgyzstan Thursday, the Times of Central Asia reports.