Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday proposed a body within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to solidify and institutionalize cooperation against terrorism.
“It is necessary to conduct operations against terror organization on the ground, while there should [also] be efforts to target those organization’s financial and human resources,” Erdogan said in his opening speech at the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul. “For that, international cooperation is vital. Establishing a body that would solidify and institutionalize cooperation against terror within the OIC is the right step to take”.
Saying that terror is the one of the gravest problems facing the Islamic world, Erdogan decried the devastation of Afghanistan, in which hundreds of thousands Muslims were killed and millions of them were mistreated by al-Qaeda.
“Now Daesh, which controls certain places in Iraq and Syria and tries to get control of Libya, serves the same dirty plans. We see Boko Haram and Al Shabaab, which conduct terror attacks in Africa, in the same category. Apart from a few attacks for show, all these terror organizations oppress and harm all Muslims,” Erdogan stressed.
Erdogan maintained that these terror organizations do not represent Islam. “Our religion is a religion of peace and compromise,” Erdogan added.
The Turkish leader also stressed that Muslims need to overcome “the instigation of sectarianism”.
“My religion is neither Sunni nor Shia. My religion is Islam,” said Erdogan.
The summit will strengthen unity and solidarity between Muslim countries in the fight against terrorism, according to a statement posted on the bloc’s official website.
The high-level meeting of Muslim leaders is also expected to discuss the situation in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. A declaration is expected at the end of the meeting.
Founded in 1969, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is made up of 57 member states and represents the collective voice of the Islamic world, according to the statement.
It is said to be the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, which was established at the end of a historical summit in the Moroccan capital of Rabat in the aftermath of an arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 1969. Member countries have been gathering once every three years ever since, mainly to evaluate overall regional politics.
Morocco has hosted the summit three times, while Senegal twice and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Malaysia and Egypt once since 1969.
Traditionally, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominates the agenda of the summits, including in 1969 in Rabat, in 1974 in Lahore and the 1981 Mecca meeting.
The 1981 Mecca summit also evaluated the political and economic crisis in Afghanistan as well as the Iran-Iraq conflict.
At the Casablanca summit in 1984, leaders of 42 member states urged for a cease-fire between Iran-Iraq to end the war between the two neighbors.
The Israeli occupation in Palestine territory was high on the summit agendas in 1991 in Senegalese capital of Dakar, in 2000 in Qatari capital of Doha, in 2003 in Malaysia and in 2008 again in Dakar.
The last summit was held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in 1984, which addressed the rise of Islamophobia apart from the issue of building Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands.
“It is necessary to conduct operations against terror organization on the ground, while there should [also] be efforts to target those organization’s financial and human resources,” Erdogan said in his opening speech at the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul. “For that, international cooperation is vital. Establishing a body that would solidify and institutionalize cooperation against terror within the OIC is the right step to take”.
Saying that terror is the one of the gravest problems facing the Islamic world, Erdogan decried the devastation of Afghanistan, in which hundreds of thousands Muslims were killed and millions of them were mistreated by al-Qaeda.
“Now Daesh, which controls certain places in Iraq and Syria and tries to get control of Libya, serves the same dirty plans. We see Boko Haram and Al Shabaab, which conduct terror attacks in Africa, in the same category. Apart from a few attacks for show, all these terror organizations oppress and harm all Muslims,” Erdogan stressed.
Erdogan maintained that these terror organizations do not represent Islam. “Our religion is a religion of peace and compromise,” Erdogan added.
The Turkish leader also stressed that Muslims need to overcome “the instigation of sectarianism”.
“My religion is neither Sunni nor Shia. My religion is Islam,” said Erdogan.
The summit will strengthen unity and solidarity between Muslim countries in the fight against terrorism, according to a statement posted on the bloc’s official website.
The high-level meeting of Muslim leaders is also expected to discuss the situation in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. A declaration is expected at the end of the meeting.
Founded in 1969, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is made up of 57 member states and represents the collective voice of the Islamic world, according to the statement.
It is said to be the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, which was established at the end of a historical summit in the Moroccan capital of Rabat in the aftermath of an arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 1969. Member countries have been gathering once every three years ever since, mainly to evaluate overall regional politics.
Morocco has hosted the summit three times, while Senegal twice and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Malaysia and Egypt once since 1969.
Traditionally, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominates the agenda of the summits, including in 1969 in Rabat, in 1974 in Lahore and the 1981 Mecca meeting.
The 1981 Mecca summit also evaluated the political and economic crisis in Afghanistan as well as the Iran-Iraq conflict.
At the Casablanca summit in 1984, leaders of 42 member states urged for a cease-fire between Iran-Iraq to end the war between the two neighbors.
The Israeli occupation in Palestine territory was high on the summit agendas in 1991 in Senegalese capital of Dakar, in 2000 in Qatari capital of Doha, in 2003 in Malaysia and in 2008 again in Dakar.
The last summit was held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in 1984, which addressed the rise of Islamophobia apart from the issue of building Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands.
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