ANKARA (AA): The Turkish presidential spokesman said Friday that 60 percentof conflicts globally are occurring in Muslim nations.
“Sixty percent of conflicts in the world today are happening in Muslimcountries. This must be a hard lesson for all of us,” Ibrahim Kalin said,speaking at a seminar held at the Strategic, Economic and Social ResearchCenter for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) in Ankara.
The center is part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Kalin said most of the Muslim countries are becoming a playground forpolitical proxy wars. “Why? Because we lack the unity we need,” he added.
Kalin said there are plans and schemes to divide Muslim countries, however,blaming others for Muslims’ own problems is very easy to do.
“We really have to address our own issues,” he added.
Kalin said there is a lot that can be done under the OIC umbrella. “Muslimcountries need political leadership… they need unity more than ever,” Kalinsaid.
He added that the Muslim world is not as poor as many people think.
Kalin said Muslims have “enormous” natural resources and the youngestpopulation in the world. Compared to Europe and the U.S., the Muslim worldis much younger, he said.
“So we have tremendous human resources that we have to tap into,” Kalinsaid. “The problem is that we are not dealing with these resources in asmart way.”
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Kalin said the current global order is not giving justice or fairdistribution of wealth.
He said the gap between the rich and the poor was narrower in the past thanit is today and that raises the issue of justice.
“There is no peace without justice. There is no sustainable peace withoutjustice and fairness. Whether you talk about the Palestinian issue or youtalk about Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar or poverty in Africa,” Kalin added.
Director General of SESRIC Ambassador Musa Kulaklikaya, also speaking,hailed the plenteous principles of peace and tolerance the Islamic religioncame with.
“Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, constantly taking the side ofworld peace and global justice,” he said.
Kulaklikaya went on to note that the OIC has so far proven itself as one ofthe most successful projects in the Islamic World, but, “this project hasfaced difficulties in responding to the increasing security challenges ofthe 21st century”.
Regarding the main aim of the seminar, he said, they target to addressthese difficulties by reflecting on some recent SESRIC research studiesfocused “on achieving peace and security in OIC countries”.
