Speech
by Foreign Minister Steinmeier
At the presentation
of the Tutzing Evangelical Academy Tolerance Prize to
His Highness the Aga Khan, 20.05.2006
Your Highness,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
According to Ilya Trojanov: “The world is wide and
salvation lurks everywhere!”
But it is not at all easy to find! That is why foreign
ministers are perpetually on the move. For many, salvation
is yet to be found, but while searching for it I have
met a man who yesterday was my guest and today is yours.
We are honouring an exceptional man. We are honouring
a great friend of humanity, a courageous visionary, a
builder of bridges between religions and society.
We are honouring a man whom, through our conversations,
I have discovered to be exceptionally intelligent, knowledgeable
and pleasant to talk to. A citizen of the world who intrepidly
fights day after day against resentment and backwardness
on almost every continent.
A man who shows us a face of Islam that many of us do
not know and sadly all too often we do not want to know:
an Islam that is open, tolerant and willing to engage
in dialogue. An Islam that is not in conflict with free,
democratic and pluralistic societies. In short: I cannot
imagine a more appropriate winner of the Tolerance Award
than His Highness the Aga Khan!
You once said, Your Highness, that poverty and extremism
must be combated by one and the same means: by sustainable
improvement in living conditions. Only where people have
jobs, access to education and satisfactory healthcare
can democratic, pluralistic societies emerge.
That is your guiding principle. On this basis you created
the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) which carries
out cultural, educational and development projects. Today,
the network is the world’s largest private development
aid organisation.
Your aims were and are ambitious: you set out to create
sustainable structures in trouble spots. You set out to
build pluralistic civil societies and thus stabilise entire
regions over the long term. And that precisely in places
where at first it seems impossible.
"A bulwark for democratic processes” is how
you yourself describe and understand your task. Your organisation
works for the common good, regardless of origin, gender
or creed.
From the many regions in which the AKDN operates, let
me single out one which is increasingly becoming the focus
of attention: Central Asia.
The region has a turbulent history.
Centuries ago the mythical Silk Road passed through here,
permitting a fruitful exchange of different cultures and
religions. In the fifteen century in Bukhara, the ancient
and prosperous trading city in western Uzbekistan, the
ruler Uleg Beg built Central Asia’s first university.
In those days cities like Bukhara and Samarkand played
a central role in the Islamic history of ideas. The reputation
of their artists and scholars spread as far as Renaissance
Europe. The inscription which Uleg Beg had inscribed above
the door of the university read: “Strive for knowledge
– that is the duty of all Muslims, every man and
every woman”.
The glory of the Silk Road has faded. Today the states
of Central Asia are faced with serious economic and social
problems. In many places there is a lack of democracy
and violence rules. Intellectual life is restricted by
civil war and its repercussions. The education system
is in a desperate state. Indeed, Tajikistan is one of
the world’s poorest countries.
And it was precisely there in Tajikistan that, a few years
ago, that the Aga Khan launched a particularly ambitious
project: the University of Central Asia.
In collaboration with the government of the day he founded
a university to serve all the countries of Central Asia
with campuses in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
The Aga Khan believes – agreeing to some extent
with Uleg Beg – that access to education is the
key to the future of the region. And he makes it clear
that access is open to women as well as men. He is guided
by the slogan “Strive for knowledge” which
is what is required most of all from men and women, regardless
of their religion. The region needs new minds, new thinkers.
Only then will it be possible to solve its problems and
shape its future.
The University of Central Asia is only one of many examples.
The network’s list of relief projects is long and
impressive. The Aga Khan’s co-workers are active
in more than 30 countries.
In Pakistan alone, over the course of 20 years the AKDN
has initiated nearly 4,000 development projects in rural
areas.
In Afghanistan the network operates in 21 districts.
The AKDN has already invested 80 million dollars in the
country – more than many European states. The AKDN
runs schools in Kenya, builds hospitals in Ivory Coast,
and provides micro-credits in Burkina Faso.
Part of the network’s policy is to form numerous
partnerships. It cooperates in a variety of ways with
governmental and private organisations. I am glad that
the AKDN also cooperates with Germany. And only yesterday
in Berlin we had a long and for me extraordinarily interesting
discussion about how to make that cooperation even closer
and to develop more joint projects.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already cooperating
with the Aga Khan Foundation, for example in Kabul on
the reconstruction of an historic garden complex dating
from the sixteenth century.
Through the work of experts from GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and the AKDN an entire
district in the middle of Cairo was transformed from a
huge refuse dump to a spacious park. the Federal Government
is working with the AKDN in Central Asia and some African
countries.
We value this partnership highly, because the Aga Khan’s
development projects always have two distinguishing features.
They have a holistic approach. That is to say they are
not limited to economic aspects but embrace social and
cultural dimensions. And the projects – irrespective
of the political situation – are designed to last.
We also support one of the basic principles of his work
which is still of immediate relevance. In the past years
– and incidentally long before 11 September 2001
– the Aga Khan has worked indefatigably for greater
pluralism within the Islamic world and greater understanding
between world religions.
The cartoon controversy has made one thing clear in recent
weeks and months: many people perceive a chasm between
us in the “West” and people in the Islamic
world. And this chasm threatens to become even deeper.
There are too many misconceptions and prejudices on both
sides. Ideas are shaped by too many stereotypes. This
ignorance has been and will continue to be exploited by
demagogues and extremists. Exploited, for example, by
transforming hurt religious sensibilities into hatred
and violence against people of other faiths or those who
think differently. And in Europe too there is prejudice
– we too must learn more about Muslims and the Islamic
world. We too must avoid creating and even reinforcing
feelings of alienation because of ignorance.
Indeed, history shows us that East and West have been
connected for over a thousand years. There has always
been a lively exchange in commercial, social and cultural
domains. The western world owes so many technological
inventions and discoveries to the Arabs: the decimal system,
the compass, and magnetism. You are all aware of the insights
of Arab scientists whose ideas have been of enormous benefit
to the West.
We must succeed in once again conveying more strongly
to people the importance of this connection which has
been so useful to both sides. We are trying to do this
in a variety of ways and not solely through the Foreign
Ministry’s cultural and education policies.
But I am particularly delighted about a completely new
joint project. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration
with the AKDN would like in future to include an introduction
to Islam in our training programme for future diplomats.
We need more people who will fight bravely and determinedly
for tolerance, both within their own societies and religions
and towards others. I fear there are still too few on
either side who build bridges and support the cause of
pluralism and tolerance.
We need open and constructive dialogue and cooperation.
But dialogue with world of Islam can only be credible
when both sides can be both critical and self-critical.
And, by the way, this is not only necessary because of
Europe’s relationship with the Arab world! No, it
is also necessary because of the process of change within
our own European societies!
For Muslims are, of course, part of the social mosaic
in Europe. More than 3.5 million Muslims live in Germany.
And while it is crucial to promote understanding between
people of different cultures and religions it is just
as important also to create within our society tolerance
and understanding between people with other cultural backgrounds.
And for that we also need signs and symbols!
Only on Wednesday I sat down and talked with German artists,
German artists with – to use the current phrase
– a migrant background. I spoke with artists who
have one thing in common: they all carry within them the
experiences and traditions of at least two cultures! And
we agreed to make these riches visible. Culturally, the
German nation was and still is a nation that has gained
from migration.
Like many economically and technologically strong states,
Germany owes a very great deal to immigration, also in
the cultural sense.
And we in Germany are not nearly proud enough of those
who once came here as foreigners and chose Germany as
their home.
Tolerance is not exactly an emergency measure to enable
us to endure things we do not understand. Tolerance demands
openness, creativity, commitment, persistence and above
all courage. Today’s prizewinner sets us an example
of all of these in his daily work!
We have reason to feel not only respect but also for gratitude!
I also wish to thank our host.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year the Tolerance Award is being presented for the
fourth time. I congratulate the Tutzing Evangelical Academy
on its great commitment. It has – without a shadow
of a doubt – become one of our country’s most
important institutions when it is a matter of actively
encouraging communication.
The award to the Aga Khan recognises that, with his personal
commitment to his work and his clarity of vision, the
Aga Khan is an inspiration to us all.
“We
have a duty,” the Aga Khan once said, “to
leave the world a better place.”
I can think of no better guiding principle.
