Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, currently in Turkey, is scheduled to participate in an extraordinary meeting of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah on March 5. The meeting aims to address the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. The OIC will host the meeting at its General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Following his participation in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey from March 1 to 3, Foreign Minister Hasan will travel to Jeddah to attend the OIC meeting. During the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Hasan emphasized the urgent need for a collective effort to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza and hold Israel accountable for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha is expected to address the opening session of the meeting. A preparatory senior officials meeting (SOM) will precede the meeting to discuss and adopt the draft agenda and work program and consider the draft resolution before submitting it to the Council of Foreign Ministers the following day.
In November of the previous year, Saudi Arabia hosted an extraordinary joint Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, jointly organized by the OIC and the League of Arab States. The conference adopted several decisions, including assigning a committee of Foreign Ministers to tour world capitals and international organizations to halt Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
As part of its ongoing efforts to stop Israeli aggression, the OIC held an open-ended executive committee extraordinary meeting at the foreign minister level in October of the previous year.
In an interview with TRT World, Minister Hasan highlighted the lack of sufficient global action to halt the violence and atrocities in Gaza. He emphasized that the situation in Gaza constitutes crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
Representing Bangladesh at the Forum in Turkey, Hasan underscored the potential of the global community to play a pivotal role in addressing these atrocities. The Antalya Diplomacy Forum, initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, concluded on March 3, convening heads of state, government officials, diplomats, business leaders, academics, and representatives from various sectors to discuss “Advancing Diplomacy in Times of Turmoil,” the theme for this year.