ISTANBUL– Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 14 proposed a body within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to solidify and institutionalize cooperation against terrorism.       

“Once again, I call on the international bodies to review their approaches to terrorist organizations. It is necessary to conduct operations against terror organizations on the ground, while there should [also] be efforts to target those organizations’ financial and human resources,” Erdoğan 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,” he added.       

Turkey is hosting the OIC summit for the first time since the body’s inception in 1969.       

Turkey will take over the bloc’s chair for the next two years during the summit, which is being held under the theme “Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace.”       

The two-day summit is set to strengthen unity and solidarity between Muslim countries in the fight against terrorism.       

Erdoğan thanked member countries for helping support the establishment of the OIC’s new police cooperation and coordination center in Istanbul.       

The Turkish president maintained that   terror organizations do not represent Islam. “Our religion is a religion of peace and compromise,” he added.       

During his talks, the Turkish leader also supported a Saudi-backed alliance to fight against terror and said the alliance should turn into an operational body.    

Erdoğan also said the Islamic world should deal with terror and other crises themselves instead of waiting for “other powers to intervene.”       

“We need to intervene and solve. When we don’t, others intervene,” he said, adding that if the alliance becomes active, a new era will open in front of Muslim countries.       

The president also stressed that Muslims need to overcome “the instigation of sectarianism.”       

“My religion is neither Sunni  nor Shia. My religion is Islam,” said Erdoğan.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News, April 14