Muslims of Russian and Tunis signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
During the visit of the Chairman of the Russian Mufties Council to
Tunis
the Memorandum of Understanding between RMS and the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the
Republic
of
Tunis
was signed. The Memorandum was signed by the
Chairman of the Russian Mufties Council mufti sheikh Ravi Gainutdin and the
Minister of Religious Affairs of TR Abu Bakr Al-Ahzuri.
The text of the memorandum emphasizes that the parties express their mutual desire to develop fraternal relations and to strengthen communication and cooperation in the field of religious affairs for the purpose of integration and coordination. Among the areas of cooperation are information sharing, exchange of experience in education and training of imams, joint participation in scientific, educational and cultural events in
Tunis and in
Russia
, joint research
work.
During the meeting before the signing of a cooperation agreement Minister Abu Bakr al-Ahzuri said: “The cooperation with Russia is very important for us, as Russia makes efforts in developing relations with the Islamic world, as a bridge between the West and East. The ideology of our countries are very close to each other and our approaches coincide on many issues including the issue of dissemination of moderate Islam and fighting against extremism and terrorism. We hope that we have signed an agreement to help spread a correct understanding of Islam and the development of inter-religious dialogue ". The Minister highly appreciated the work of the Russian President for rapprochement between Russia and the Islamic world.
Mufti Ravil Gainutdin in his turn thanked the Minister for the invitation to Tunisia and conveyed the
greetings 
of 20 million Muslim Ummah. In his statement, Mufti said that this is a historic event, which gives new impetus to cooperation between Russia and the Islamic world. Russia is known as a multinational and multi-religious country and has extensive experience in the development the dialogue. In July 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev turned to us to contribute to the strengthening of Russia's relations with the countries of the Islamic world. Today, we pay great attention in the education of young people and believe that to use modern forms of communication, such as the establishment of an Islamic television and radio is a necessary part of this process. We welcome the initiative of His Excellency the President of the Tunisian Republic of Zayn al-Abidin Bin Ali, which focuses on educating young people and declared 2010 the Year of Youth ".
Attending the signing ceremony Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia in the Republic of Tunisia Andrey Polyakov said: "In recent years the Russian-Tunisian relationships has been developing successfully in many directions, and today's event has made a significant contribution to the development of our relations."
The signing ceremony was also attended by the Counsellor of the Embassy of Russia Ilyas Iskandarov and third secretary of the Embassy Eldar Kurbanov.
The Chairman of RMS invited the Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Tunisia to visit Russia .
This memorandum is the second in a row, signed by the Russian Mufties Council with the Ministries of the Arab Maghreb. Last year in November during the visit of the Chairman of the Russian Mufties Council to Algeria the Memorandum of Understanding between the RMS and the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Algerian People's Democratic Republic was signed.
