Istanbul to host Muslim leaders for Palestine meeting

By Zuhal Demirci and Tugcenur Yilmaz

ANKARA

Turkey, the rotating president of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), is set to host an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss a joint action against Israel in the wake of the recent Gaza killings.

The Istanbul summit meeting -- called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- is expected to give a strong message against the Israeli violence that martyred at least 62 Palestinians -- the youngest being 8 months old -- during mass rallies Monday along Gaza's eastern border.

A large number of heads of state and government including Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Afghan President Ashraf Gani, Kuwaiti Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and Mauritanian President Mohammad Veled Abdulaziz are expected to participate in the summit meeting.

The event is expected to help Muslim leaders show a dedicated and joint stance against Israeli actions. A final declaration is to be released after the gathering.

End to persecution of Palestinians

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the OIC summit meeting will focus on steps to be taken to mobilize the international community to end the persecution of Palestinians.

In a written statement Thursday, Kalin said the occupation of Israel and the Palestinian issue are not problems for the Muslim countries alone but "common problems for everyone who believe in law and justice".

"The summit will focus on the attitude and actions to be taken by Muslim countries in solidarity and cooperation with the Palestinian State and its people in order to defend the causes of Palestine and Jerusalem," Kalin added.

Monday’s protests in Gaza had coincided with Israel’s 70th anniversary -- an event Palestinians refer to as Nakba or the Catastrophe -- and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the mass Gaza rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian protesters have been martyred by cross-border Israeli army gunfire.

Last week, the Israeli government claimed the ongoing border protests constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law does not apply.