2009 Programs And Events
Ambassador Encourages Discussion of Obama’s Speech (06/09/2009)
Calling President Barack Obama’s June 4 address to the Muslim world a historic event, U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland said he looked forward to hearing the views and reaction to the speech from friends and colleagues in Uzbekistan.
“This speech was a unique historical event,” Norland said. “It was the first time an American President has spoken directly to the Muslim world.”
During the speech in Cairo on June 4, President Obama said he sought “a new beginning” in relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world, one built on trust and mutual respect. He outlined the influence of Islam on his own life, on American culture, and on civilization as a whole. Obama also laid out steps his administration was taking in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, relations with Iran, and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
You can read the speech in English, Uzbek, or Russian, or watch the video.
Norland said he believed that many people in Uzbekistan, a predominantly Muslim nation, would be interested in the themes of the speech.
Obama spoke about the enormous role that Muslims have played throughout history in the spheres of science, medicine, art, mathematics and literature. Norland noted that some of the brightest lights in these areas could be found in the history of Uzbekistan and Central Asia: The 9th Century mathematician Muhammed al-Khwarizmi, from whose name were derived the words “algebra” and “algorithm”; Ibn Sina, the 11th Century physician and philosopher known in the West as Avicenna, who was born near Bukhara; Mirzo Ulugbek, the 15th Century ruler in Samarkand who is considered a father of modern astronomy and mathematics; and Alisher Navoi, the 15th Century poet who established Turkic languages, including Uzbek, as prestigious literary languages.
The U.S. Embassy planned a screening and discussion of the speech on June 9 at the Embassy.