Speaking at a coordinating ministerial session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov expressed concerns about growing Islamophobia and intolerance in various parts of the world, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry told Interfax on Saturday.

"Uzbekistan has been one of the centers of enlightened Islam for centuries. This is why certain negative interpretations of Islam's historical role and deliberately malicious distortions of historical facts cause our serious concerns," Norov said.

Uzbekistan is categorically against seeing the war on terror transforming into Islamophobia and taking the shape of latent or open confrontation with the Islamic world, he said.

Norov supported the OIC's initiatives "on unifying and consolidating the Muslim countries in confronting the fundamental changes determined by new challenges and threats to security," among them extremism, terrorism, drug trafficking, and Islamophobia.

The minister spoke for promoting the ideology of tolerance, mutual understanding, and cultural diversity.

Norov pointed out that Uzbek President Islam Karimov had called for the consolidation of the Muslim world to protect Islam from groundless accusations, explain its pure essence to the younger generation, and emphasize its humane and creative nature.

"The Republic of Uzbekistan is making its contribution to support for dialogue between cultures and civilizations, which needs to be held within the framework of international law, without any pressure and attempts to impose unacceptable values and moral standards on anyone and with the preservation of respectful attitude toward the mentality that has formed over centuries and millennia," he said.

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