A three-day conference on The Middle East in London was opened on Wednesday, at which business, financial, cultural and political links between the region and the West were top on the agenda.
“Links between Britain and the Middle East is a two-way process, in which each has had an impact in influencing and reshaping the other,” said the director of London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Colin Bundy, quoted by Iranian official news agency (IRNA).
"A dialogue exists between London and all the countries (of the Middle East) that make up this multi-faceted and culturally important region, and this dialogue influences developments on both sides," he said.
"The contribution to cultural life of the capital by artists, writers and film makers with origins in the Middle East is significant, as the sessions on art and the cinema and special screenings highlight," he said.
Bundy said that there was a "kaleidoscope" of influences from the region that span from North Africa to Turkey and the fringes of Central Asia that were as complex as they were diverse.
It is estimated that around 250,000 people in Britain who have personal or family origins in the Middle East, of which more than 50 percent live in London.
The conference was organized by the Center of Near and Middle Eastern Studies department (CNMES) at SOAS as part of its initiative to establish a Middle East Institute in London – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
