Terrorism, refugees to dominate Islamic summit in Istanbul

Counterterrorism efforts and the uncontrollable flow of refugees are expected to top the agenda of the 13th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) slated for Thursday and Friday in Istanbul, analysts say.

The gathering offers a chance as well for some member states to promote and better their relations.

More than 50 heads of state or government are scheduled to attend the summit to be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan under the theme of "Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace."

The meeting should be considered as "vital" as it will address serious problems facing the region, while new alliances are starting to emerge among member states, experts told Xinhua.

"First, the Muslim body will try to seek solutions for the uncontrollable massive influx of refugees, who have been continuously flowing from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya to the rest of the world," said Bora Bayraktar from Istanbul's Kultur University.

More than 4.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee since their country was plunged into chaos five years ago, with most of them being sheltered in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, in a burden that has brought serious social, economic and security troubles to these host countries.

Only 10 percent of the refugees have fled to Europe, and Turkey alone is hosting over three million on its soil.

In Bayraktar's view, the OIC summit will raise a "strong, common" voice against the European countries for their inefficacy in solving the issue and for their poor financial support offered thus far.

On top of the refugee issue, the leaders are expected to discuss in detail counterterrorism efforts against global terrorism, especially against the Islamic State (IS) militant group, analysts said.

Countries in the region and North Africa have been roiled by the scourge of terrorism, with Turkey and others hit hard by a fresh wave of terror attacks in recent months.

In his address to Egypt's Parliament on Sunday, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stated that "the Arab world is suffering the most" from extremism and terrorism.

"Saudi Arabia has realized the importance of unifying our visions and stance to find practical solutions to this problem," said the monarch. "We are also working together towards the foundation of a joint Arab power."

The king noted that the envisioned joint force is different from the 34-state Islamic military coalition announced by his country in December last year.

In addition, OIC member states are expected to take "solid" steps to prevent Islamophobia from expanding further across the globe, which has been continuously fueled by terror attacks carried out by the IS.

"The leaders will strongly denounce the crimes of IS as they have been misrepresenting the Islam's universal message of peace," said Bayraktar.

By taking advantage of the summit, some countries have been trying for warmer relations with each other, in particular among Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Ankara and Cairo, whose ties had nosedived over the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in a coup in 2013, are having their first diplomatic contacts in three years.

After concluding his five-day tour of Egypt, King Salman arrived in Ankara on Monday for a three-day official visit to Turkey.

"The Saudi king first visited Cairo and then Ankara, which could be interpreted as an important sign that the relations between Ankara and Cairo will be flourished in the near future," remarked Bayraktar.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Vaezi, the Iranian head of Iran-Turkey joint economic commission, said that Iran's President Hassan Rouhani will also come to Istanbul for the OIC summit.

According to Bayraktar, Rouhani's visit should also be considered as an opportunity for discussions among Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

As regional heavyweights, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran have differed on issues like the Syrian conflict, while the next round of Syrian peace talks is expected to kick off in Geneva on Wednesday.

According to Yunus Soner, an expert on international relations, alliances have been evolving in the region as the United States has chosen to back down.

"The U.S. has been gradually withdrawing from the Middle East," Soner said. "We can understand this from Washington's reluctance in intervening in Syria and limiting its struggle against IS with only air strikes, avoiding any ground operation."

He argued that with the U.S. withdrawal, regional countries have started to strengthen their ties, establish new cooperation and look for alliances.

"Despite some different point of views among the countries, all the regional countries are regularly getting closer to each other as they share a common faith in the region," he observed.

"In that context, the summit will be a very fruitful platform for the regional countries to develop their ties and discuss their family problems without the intervention of a third party."

Source: XINHUA