WORKING MEETINGS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS
During a working visit to the Caucasian Mineral Waters region from October 12 to 15, 2023, the International Public Chamber delegation held a series of working meetings with prominent figures and experts from the North Caucasus and Muslim countries.
A ceremony was held in Mineralnye Vody to present certificates to pre-elected members of the International Civic Chamber for the 2020-2025 convocation representing the North Caucasus, as well as to award the medal "For Public Service to the Union State" to distinguished figures of the region. The awards and documents were presented bypresident of the International Civic Chamber and President of the Presidium Alexander Olshevskiy, a member of the Presidium and Doctor of Philosophy Vladimir Bolshakov.
The Republic of Ingushetia was represented by members of the Chamber: President of the Ingush Regional Branch of the Russian Combat Sambo Federation, the Russian Federation of Integrated Martial Arts, and the All-Russian Hand-to-Hand Combat Federation, Abti Yandiev, and Vakha Aushev , Director of the Republican Hockey Center of the Republic of Ingushetia . Certificates were also presented to Koloy Kortoyev , silver medalist in freestyle wrestling at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games , Bisultan Yandiev , Vice President of the Ingush Wrestling Federation , and Zareta Khautieva , President of the Bar Association of the Republic of Ingushetia .
A friendly dinner followed with representatives of the North Caucasus republics and Muslim countries. In addition to the Chamber's delegation, the award recipients, and representatives of the North Caucasus republics, guests from the Syrian Arab Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates attended, including Bassam Abu Abdullahthe Asfar Foundation for Strategic Studies; Amir Mousavi, Director of International Relations and Media at the Akkadian Organization for Cultural Exchange between Iraq and Russia; Abdullah Al-Salih, Deputy Director General of the Emirates News Agency "WAM"; Ali Al-SaadDirector of International Projects and Content Promotion at the Rossiya Segodnya International Media Group; Naowaf Ibrahim, and other colleagues. The meeting participantsdiscussed, among other topics, the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and expressed a shared view on the need for a just peace based on the formation of a fully sovereign Palestinian state, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. A number of considerations were also expressed regarding the need for a neutral status for Jerusalem as the center of the three world religions' holiest sites, with the possibility of religious and humanitarian patronage involving their clergy (including drawing on the experience of the Vatican's special status). Agreements were also reached to expand the participation of experts from these countries in the work of the International Public Chamber and its ongoing projects.
The delegation also attended events commemorating the birthdays of two outstanding poets, who are considered national treasures of the Russian people. Vladimir Bolshakov, , along with colleagues from Syria and Iraq, visited the Stavropol Krai State Cultural Institution "M. Yu. Lermontov State Museum-Reserve" as an honorary guest and actively participated in the celebrations commemorating the poet's anniversary.
The overall outcome of the meetings was a strengthening of mutual understanding, a synchronicity of views on pressing international issues, and a series of joint practical steps. Participants also noted the significant substantive significance of the "North Caucasus in the Focus of Russia's International Cooperation" forum, currently taking place in Zheleznovodsk and Pyatigorsk, where some of them served as experts, and the importance of further cooperation in the human resources sector with such strong educational institutions as the North Caucasus Institute of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), which organized the forum. Commissions of the International Public Chamber, the Council of Elders of the Peoples of the North Caucasus, and participants of the permanent Imam Shamil International Forum will soon be actively involved in implementing the ideas outlined at the forum and meetings.
