Russian Foreign Ministry Reception in Honor of the Ambassadors of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation

PRESS RELEASE

On November 28 on the occasion of the celebration of the Islamic New Year the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, gave a traditional reception at the ministry's Mansion in honor of the ambassadors of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Present at the reception were representatives of the Presidential Administration, Government and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and political, public and religious figures.

In his welcoming remarks Sergey Lavrov congratulated those present on the holiday and gave assessments of the main international political events of the outgoing year and prospects for the further interaction between Russia and the OIC member states.

Speaking in reply, Senegal's Ambassador Mamadou Saliou Diouf as the representative of the country currently chairing the OIC expressed gratitude to the Russian Federation for the active collaboration with the Islamic states in dealing with the problems of relevance to them and highly appraised the Russian experience in maintaining good relations between people of different religions and cultures.

November 28, 2011