Violence and power politics to solve human conflicts unacceptable, Mintimer Shaimiev

President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev expressed deep condolences in relation to the murdering of four Russian diplomats in Iraq.

"It is hard to convey the feelings of their relatives and friends. There was some hope it would not end in atrocity but we, unfortunately, had to realise again that terror has no nationality or faith: the employees of the Russian embassy, among whom are Orthodox Christians and a Muslim have been savagely murdered," said the president Tuesday in an interview to the Interfax-Povolzhye news agency. "Not a single religion in the world calls for terrorism in the name of faith and feelings of the believers's. What happened in Iraq is deeply tragic," emphasised Mintimer Shaimiev. He holds, that the world should have a common understanding of that terrorism must be fought together using the whole range of means to conquer it. "Such complicated issues involving the interests of different peoples cannot be solved by power politics," said Shaimiev. They, he said, affect long-established traditions, culture and religion of peoples. "Unfortunately, an instance of this is the invasion of Iraq when they attempted to in one moment solve all the problems destroying the customs and traditions of the nation, the state," Shaimiev recalled. Moreover, he says, "arms rattling toward Iran is unwarranted in this situation". Today, sermons in memory of the killed are being held in all the Tatarstan mosques and churches, said Shaimiev. "Everyone of us will feel once again how important it is to preserve interethnic and interfaith consent," he noted.

Mintimer Shaimiev called on the authorities of every Russian region to make every effort to ensure agreement in the society which would be a considerable contribution to peaceful resistance to violence.