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In a letter of greetings to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, President Putin wrote, in part:

“The Summit Conference convened in Doha is an important event for the Islamic world and the international community as a whole. Russia acknowledges the steadily growing role of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in building the 21st-century world order.

“Russia is actively interacting with Islamic countries by engaging in bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation projects, the most important of which are aimed at upholding peace and security, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, promoting the political settlement of conflicts, advocating the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, creating an atmosphere of tolerance and forging dialogue between different civilizations.

“We expect an even stronger cooperation to take shape between Russia and the Muslim world in meeting modern challenges like terrorism, extremism, drug dealing, arms trafficking and the slave trade. We can only succeed if we pool our efforts in an uncompromising struggle to overcome those challenges. The peace and stability of all our nations will depend on our shared success.”