CAIRO
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu on Tuesday said that a quartet conference, made up of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran, may be successful if held under the umbrella of the OIC.
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA) while attending a reception hosted by the Turkish Embassy in Cairo in his honor, Ihsanoglu said that if the quartet conference, as recently proposed by the Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi at an Islamic summit, takes place at an other platform other than the OIC, it faces the possibility of failure.
"We support the mission of joint UN and Arab League Special Envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. Efforts for peace must be supported. Channels of communications must remain open even at times when there are fierce clashes. Pressure must be applied on all groups involved in clashes and they must be forced to sit at the peace and negotiations table," Ihsanoglu underlined.
"We have projects for Syrian refugees"
"We have various projects for Syrian refugees living in regional countries, including setting up field hospitals. We are in search of funds to erect the field hospitals," Ihsanoglu noted.
"The number of Syrians living in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan has risen. As such, their needs have risen as well. We will hold talks with the UN in upcoming days to assist the Syrian refugees," Ihsanoglu underlined.
"We will hold a joint meeting with various private aid organizations. We plan to hold a meeting either in Istanbul or in Cairo to organize the aid of private aid organizations," Ihsanoglu stated.
"The Syrian administration does not let the OIC open a representation in Damascus. As such, it is extremely hard to provide aid materials to Syrians who are facing hunger," Ihsanoglu also said.
