Ribal Al-Assad speaks at Chernivtsi National University
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
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Chairman of The Iman Foundation, Ribal Al-Assad, accompanied by Vice-Chairman, Stephen Jones, recently visited Chernivtsi University where Ribal gave a speech covering the situation in the Middle East and the problems faced by the threat of Islamic extremism.
In his speech to students he spoke of the dangers of radicalisation and the importance of eradicating extremist groups in combating the problem.
He went on to add that the international community should not have allowed the peaceful uprising in Syria to be hijacked by extremists and it should not have allowed some Gulf states, as well as Turkey, to train, arm, fund and give safe passage to the Islamist rebels.
Ribal noted how this allowed the regime to gain more support by telling the world it was fighting extremists and not a peaceful and genuine democratic movement.
He was adamant that there can be no place for Islamists at the negotiating table and their only goal is to murder all minorities and those who do not share their perverted belief. He stressed that the Islamists only goal is to install an Islamic Caliphate and that they will stop at nothing less.
Ribal concluded by saying that much more needs to be done by the international community to bring an end to the crisis and how he believed that the only solution to the conflict is a diplomatic one with all those who have a genuine belief in freedom and democracy and who are willing to commit to it.
The delegation also met with the following dignitaries during their visit.
Tamara Marusyk
Vice-Rector of the University
Roman Petryshyn
First Vice-Rector of the University
Oleksandr Dobrzhanskiy
Dean of the Faculty of History, Political Science and International Relations
Pavlo Katerynchuk
Vice-Dean of the Faculty of History, Political Science and International Relations
Sergiy Lukanyuk
Head of the Office of International Affairs
Chernivtsi National University was founded on October 4, 1875 by decree Franz Josef, Emperor of Austro-Hungary.
In the beginning there were colleges of theology, philosophy and law. K.Tomashchuk, a renowned scientist and public figure, became the first rector of the University. The scientists of European and world fame taught and conducted their research at the University: economist J.Schumpeter, lawyer G.Gross, historian R.Kaindl, Slavic scholars O.Kaluzhnatskyi and S. Smal'-Stots'kyi and composer and writer S.Vorobkevych, among others.
After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 and annexation of Northern Bukovina by the Romanian kingdom, until 1940 the university was one of the Romanian higher educational institutions.
In 1940, after the reunification of Northern Bukovina with Ukraine, the University was reorganized into a state higher educational institution with the instruction in Ukrainian. In 1989 Chernivtsi National University was named after Yuriy Fedkovych, the well-known writer of Bukovina, herald of Ukrainian national Renaissance.
Today in the university there are 16 colleges: physics, engineering, applied mathematics, chemistry, biology, philology, foreign languages, history, geography, economics, pedagogy, law, and philosophy and theology, 71 departments, 16 thousand students majoring in 67 areas.
The University together with other institutions in Ukraine founded "Bible and Culture" research center which studies the fundamental problems of humanities and social sciences.
Chernivtsi National University has 14 buildings, the Botanical Gardens, Zoological and Earth Science/Topography Museums, Publishing House, and Library with over 2.5 million books. There is the Department of Military Studies.
The faculty and the students of the University participate in various exchange programs in the USA, Austria, Germany, Poland, Romania, China, Yugoslavia, and Israel and other countries of the world.
In October, 1999 Chernivtsi National University became the member of the International Universities Organization "Phi Beta Delta" (USA).
By the President's Decree the title of "National University" was awarded to Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi State University on September 11, 2000.
