On 28 January 2014 H.E. Mr. Tharit Charungvat, Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Turkey, had a meeting with Dr. Halit Eren, Director General, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), to discuss on preparation of organizing the “Inter-Faith Tolerance and Multicultural Coexistence Symposium” at the IRCICA Office (Yıldız Palace) in Istanbul.

H.E. the Ambassador reconfirmed Dr. Eren on Thailand’s keen interest to co-organizing the Interfaith Symposium in Thailand as Thailand attaches great importance to peaceful coexistence of people with different faiths, whether be it Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or Hinduism.

H.E. the Ambassador and IRCICA Director General agreed to set the target of organizing the event in the 2^nd quarter of 2015. The Symposium also expected to receive wide participation from religious leaders and thinkers both from Thailand and other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and India, on top of key prominent speakers from the Royal Thai Government, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and IRCICA.

The whole Symposium will last up to four days in Thailand, including one day excursion to a community where people of different religions live in harmony.

The Symposium is in fact a concrete follow up of the agreed initiative between H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, and H.E. Mr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Former OIC Secretary General, during their meeting in Istanbul in July 2013. IRCICA as an academic arm of the OIC will be co-organizing this event with the Royal Thai Government.

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Royal Thai Embassy, Ankara

30 January 2014