Turkey’s Two Expectations from OIC

Nearly 2300 delegates and press members will attend the June 14-16 meetings in Istanbul. The Cyprus, Palestine, Iraq and Kashmir issues, the secretary-general election, international terrorism, and the Greater Middle East and Northern Africa Project (GMENA) are just a few of the 110 topics on the agenda.

The 6th meeting of the neighboring countries of Iraq will also be held as part of the 3-day OIC meeting. UN Special Representative for Iraq Lahdar Brahmani will attend the meeting on behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Iraq itself will be represented by Foreign Minister Hosyar Zebari.

The OIC Foreign Ministers meeting will serve as a kind of dress rehearsal for the June 28-29 NATO summit. Foreign ministers from 57 countries, representatives from observer countries, guests that Turkey will invite as well as some international organizations’ representatives will participate in the OIC summit.

Turkey expects the other countries to take clear steps towards ending the isolation of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). There will also be demands that TRNC, which formerly attended the meetings as the ‘Cypriot Turkish Community’, participate in the meetings as ‘Turkish Cypriot State’.