Turkish foreign minister to attend OIC summit

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, said an official statement.

"H.E. Mr. Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, will attend the Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people on 5 March 2024, in Jeddah," said a Monday Foreign Ministry statement.

"The meeting will follow up the decisions taken at the Arab League-OIC Extraordinary Summit held on 11 November 2023, in Riyadh," the ministry added, referring to a meeting where the OIC and Arab League formed a contact group on Gaza to stop the conflict in Gaza and help achieve lasting peace. The group includes officials from Türkiye, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Palestine.

The statement also said that Fidan will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting.

As the death toll from Israel's attacks on Gaza since last Oct. 7 has surpassed 30,000, and the threat of famine continues unabated, Türkiye has been pressing even harder for a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and has also advocated unilateral steps if needed.