"Conflicts in the Middle East directly or indirectly affect our country," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin said.Depok, West Java(Antara News) - Indonesias foreign minister Retno LP Marsudi said stability in the Middle East was very important for the country and therefore Indonesia was actively pushing for its realization.
"Indonesia has always supported peace in the Middle East," she stated at an international seminar, titled Conflict and Process of Democratization in the Middle East, at Al Hikam Islamic boarding school here on Thursday.
She noted that stability in the Middle East would have a positive effect on Indonesia because of the presence of many Indonesian students and migrant workers in the region. Besides that, Indonesia also sends hundreds of thousands of hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year.
From the economic point of view, the region was also a market for Indonesia and that must be developed, she remarked.
Sharing similar views, religious affairs minister Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin observed that Indonesia as the worlds most populous Muslim country must support the settlement of conflicts as well as democratization in the region especially in the current globalization era.
"Conflicts in the Middle East directly or indirectly affect our country," he pointed out.
The seminar, which was organized by the International Conference of Islamic Scholars in cooperation with the foreign ministry, was attended by Muslim clerics from 33 provinces across the country and had speakers from home and abroad.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria issue was also discussed at the two-day seminar. Minister of social affairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa and former foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda also attended. ***1***
Reporting by Sigit Pinardi
(H-YH/INE)
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
