ISLAMABAD: Deputy Foreign Minister Ambassador Ahmet Yildiz hoped that First Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States Conference on Mediation will contribute to the efforts to carry the mediation agenda forward in the OIC geography and to promote sustainable peace in the Islamic world.
He expressed these view, while addressing the First OIC Member State Conference on Mediation held at Turkey, said a press release received here on Wednesday.
"Turkey assumed the summit chairmanship of the OIC in April 2016. Since then, Turkey’s Chairmanship has been guided by one understanding: Our common problems can only be overcome through our commonly developed solutions, he added.
While giving reference of the SESRIC[1] Report of February 2017, titled “Humanitarian Crises in OIC Countries” he said that “In 2015, 30 of 50 conflicts recorded worldwide occurred in OIC countries, as a direct outcome, today OIC countries account for 61.5% of all displaced population in the world. Moreover, 71% of people who globally require humanitarian assistance reside in OIC countries”.
As President Erdogan said in the 13th Islamic Summit in Istanbul, in order to achieve peace he said “We need to be unitive, not divisive. We need to enhance alliances, not conflicts; enhance friendships, not animosities.
He said "OIC is the largest international organization after the UN in geographical outreach and population. It is and should be the voice of more than 1.6 billion people from 57 countries, in 4 continents, adding OIC has a huge potential and a genuine comparative advantage in the global search for peace and stability.
For this potential to come true, we need more sound initiatives in the context of global peacemaking agenda. Mediation is the right tool to do this. It is a cost-effective instrument with extensive benefits, Deputy Minister said.
He said accordingly, OIC has been taking significant steps for more effective and wider use of mediation in our geography, Islamic world. Turkey strongly supports the work of the OIC to this end. We need to make better use of the OIC for the sake of sustainable peace and stability in our own geography.
We also need to sustain peace. This requires addressing the structural causes of conflicts and further investment in economic, political and social resilience and infrastructures.
Yet, only 11 OIC member states (including Turkey) are members of this Group. I call on other OIC members, as well, to join the UN Group of Friends of Mediation. This is the first step the OIC members can make in promoting mediation around the world.
Secondly, as a reflection of the importance attached to mediation, Turkey also hosts the annual events of the Istanbul Conferences on Mediation. These flagship events present a significant venue for intellectual exchange among leading practitioners and scholars in the field of mediation, he said