Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 22/05/2010
Upon the invitation of H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, and H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) participated in the International Conference on Somalia held in Istanbul on 22 May 2010. In his address to the Conference, OIC Secretary General highlighted the enduring support of the OIC and its members to the stability and development of Somalia. He underscored the need to extend all possible assistance to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and to streghten its institutions in order to deliver essential services to the Somali people. He called on all groups outside the Djibouti Peace Process to abandon violence and seek accommodation within the TFG. He informed the Conference that in fulfilment of the OIC’s pledge made to the International Contact Group on Somalia which was held in Jeddah in December 2009, a high level delegation from the OIC General Secretariat visited Mogadishu on 2-3 May 2010 and finalized the arrangements for the opening of the OIC Humanitarian Office in Somalia. He appealed to the international community to intensify their assistance to Somalia as a concrete mark of their solidarity with the country. On the sidelines of the Conference, the Secretary General held bilateral meetings with Presidents of Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Gabon, Djibouti, Spain, Tanzania and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Qatar.
