An emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which Turkey called for after Israeli forces killed dozens of protesters in Gaza on Monday, is expected to draw the world's attention with 57 Muslim leaders and officials in attendance.
Friday's summit in Istanbul will be attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Mauritanian President Mohammed Veled Abdulaziz, Guinean President Alpha Conde, Qatari Emir Sheikh Temim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Muhammetkaliy Abulgaziyev, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and many other foreign ministers and high-level representatives have also arrived in Turkey for the summit.
The Istanbul summit is expected to determine the Muslim world's common response to the continuous Israeli violence against Palestinians.
President Erdoğan already staged an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in December last year to denounce U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
A draft communique prepared for the summit calls for "international protection for the Palestinian people" and condemns Israel's "criminal" actions against "unarmed civilians".
The text also accuses the U.S. administration of "encouraging the crimes of Israel" and condemns the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested holy city of Jerusalem, according to participants in the summit.
