Turkey’s attempt to pass resolutions at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Istanbul — attended by President Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Fidan — promoting its positions on Cyprus and the so-called “Turkish” minority in Western Thrace and the Dodecanese, was met with resistance from six Arab nations: Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Bahrain.
As reflected in the Istanbul Declaration, the delegations of Egypt and Bahrain expressed reservations about paragraph 24, concerning Turkish Cypriots, and paragraph 25, referring to the “Turkish Muslim minority” in Western Thrace and the Muslim population in the Dodecanese. Paragraph 24 supports the rights of Turkish Cypriots and calls for engagement with them to overcome their “unjust isolation,” while paragraph 25 reaffirms support for the “Turkish Muslim minority” in Greece and insists on full respect for their religious and cultural rights.
Turkey’s broader push to have the OIC adopt Resolution No. 3/51 on the “Status of the Turkish Muslim Minority in Western Thrace and the Muslim Population in the Dodecanese” also met formal reservations. These states opposed what they saw as a misleading and critical portrayal of Greece’s treatment of its Muslim minority, with calls for Greece to respect all human rights, religious freedoms, recognise elected Muftis in Xanthi and Komotini, and follow ECHR rulings on minority NGOs. The resolution further questioned Greece’s appointment of 240 imams and urged educational reforms and investigations by the OIC Secretary General.
Another resolution regarding Cyprus called on the international community and OIC members to end the “isolation” of Turkish Cypriots, support them materially and politically, establish business and cultural ties with the unrecognised state in northern Cyprus, and advocate for their participation in international forums on an equal footing with Greek Cypriots.
This development did not come as a surprise, as Athens and Nicosia have for years worked to ensure that friendly Arab and Muslim nations understand Turkey’s attempts to use the OIC as a political tool, which ultimately undermines their strong ties with Greece, Cyprus, and the European Union.
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Source: protothema.gr
