2005 Press Releases
Iftaar at the Consulate General
October 19, 2005
On October 18th Consul General John Stepanchuk hosted an Iftaar - a solemn evening meal that takes place during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The Iftaars at the U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg have become a good tradition, which has been followed for three years. This year about 30 people including Imams, heads of ethnic cultural centers, Muslim journalists, businessmen, and artists from Yekaterinburg, Verkhnaya Pyshma, Pervouralsk, and Novouralsk became the Consul General’s respected guests. The Iftaar contributed to the cooperation between numerous ethnic groups living in the region as it brought together leaders of the Tatar, Bashkir, Tajik, Chechen, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, and Kyrgyz communities. Several paintings by Mirza Mamedov, a member of the Russian Artists’ Union, arted up the meeting with their Azerbaijani genius.
Consul General John Stepanchuk and his guests discussed subjects like tolerance in the region, prospects of the mosques’ development, and cooperation between the ethnic NGOs. Akmal’ Khazrat said that such gatherings help to set up a dialogue, which is the first and necessary step to peaceful coexistence. A story about the Iftaar in the U.S. Consulate General will be broadcast as part of the TV program Islam Today on Oblast TV, October 28th at 21:30.
As a prelude to the Iftaar, Consul General John Stepanchuk and staff visited the so-called Copper Mosque in the town of Verkhnaya Pyshma near Yekaterinburg on October 13. The beautiful mosque was built about 3 years ago, and its Imam, Airat Khazrat, told us about his plans to open a library at the mosque in November and a small Madrassah, an Islamic school, some time in the future.
