The International Media Forum, titled “Islamic Civilization: A New Perspective — New Discoveries,” opened its main program Tuesday at the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, a major cultural and research complex in the capital.
Held a week before Uzbekistan celebrates Independence Day on Sept. 1, the forum reflects a broader effort by the Central Asian nation to reconnect its post-Soviet national identity with the Islamic scholarship, culture and history that flourished in the region for centuries.
The country declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the government has organized nationwide events this year under the theme marking three and a half decades of statehood.
Uzbek presidential press secretary Sherzod Asadov, delivering remarks at the opening ceremony, tied the country's independence to its efforts to reclaim and present its history and cultural heritage to the outside world.
He said the media now operate in an era in which traditional information boundaries have largely disappeared, while fake news, cyberattacks and information warfare have become global challenges.
Artificial intelligence will not replace journalists, Asadov said, but will broaden the possibilities available to them. He stressed transparency, openness and human dignity as principles for the media at a time when freedom of speech faces growing pressures around the world.
The media, he said, should carry the voices of ordinary people to policymakers and make communication a bridge between societies rather than reinforcing stereotypes.
The forum comes as Uzbekistan increasingly uses its historical and Islamic heritage as a platform for international cultural diplomacy.
The Center for Islamic Civilization, which took about nine years to complete, was officially inaugurated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on March 17. The complex, built near Tashkent's historic Hazrati Imam area, combines museum collections, manuscripts, scientific research and digital technology. Uzbek authorities describe it as both a research institution and an international cultural and educational platform.
The project traces its roots to Mirziyoyev's address to the U.N. General Assembly in September 2017, when he said Islam calls for goodness and peace, the preservation of human values, and the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment, rejecting attempts to associate the religion with violence.
Firdavs Abdukhalikov, director of the Center for Islamic Civilization, said the institution was designed not simply as a museum but as an arena for science, national memory and international dialogue.
“Islam is a religion of peace, goodness, tolerance and humility,” he said, arguing that misconceptions about Islam remain widespread in today's complex information environment.
“The best weapon against ignorance is knowledge,” Abdukhalikov said.
He said independence gave Uzbekistan an opportunity to restore its national memory, study its cultural and scientific heritage and present that history to the world “with our own voice.”
More than 200 participants from 46 countries were attending the gathering. Organizers had earlier said the broader forum would draw about 300 media representatives and experts from nearly 50 countries, including executives from television networks, news agencies and digital platforms as well as filmmakers, producers, researchers and artificial intelligence specialists.
Among the most prominent international speakers was Klaus Strunz, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Euronews, who described the center as a “lighthouse” linking Central Asia more closely with Europe and the rest of the world.
Strunz recalled that when he was growing up in Western Europe in the 1980s, Central Asia barely featured in classrooms, universities or television news. That has changed, he said, as Western media increasingly cover the Silk Road, the region's cultures and its rapidly changing societies.
“Hello, West. This is Tashkent,” Strunz said, describing the message that the new center sends to audiences beyond the region.
With that growing visibility comes responsibility for journalists, he said, including the obligation to report what is actually happening and to confront disinformation.
Forums such as the gathering in Tashkent could help build bridges between Central Asia and Europe, Strunz said.
The broader forum is examining documentary filmmaking, historical memory, publishing, artificial intelligence and digital approaches to cultural heritage. It also includes debates on how journalists can counter stereotypes, Islamophobia and misinformation.
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