KHARTOUM
Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek on Monday said that Turkey chose to be on the side of the Syrian people and continued to make humanitarian assistance to the Syrians.
Speaking at the 8th edition of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Khartoum, Cemil Cicek underlined that "relieving the Syrian people from their wounds was a duty of everyone who believed in human rights and freedoms."
Democratic transformation in the Middle East and in North Africa is inevitable, Cicek stressed.
"Turkey supports the legitimate demands of the regional peoples. Turkey underlines that the peoples, while bringing up demands, should not resort to violence. It is the duty of everyone who believes in human rights and freedoms to relieve the Syrian people's wounds," Cicek indicated.
Facilitating peace in Syria in the shortest time possible is a necessity of universal values and regional security, Cicek noted.
It is the hope of everyone to see the process in Syria end in an atmosphere where all Syrian citizens are equal and Syria reaches a democratic system taken under constitutional guarantee, Cicek underlined.
"The structure in the Middle East is fragile. We want regional issues to be solved by dialogue and consensus," Cicek said.
On the Islamic world and human rights, Cicek stressed that the Islamic world should be one that established standards in human rights and one that was not criticized on human rights.
Touching on the OIC Summit of Leaders, Cicek stated that such a summit was never held in Turkey in the past.
"We would be pleased to host all of you in Turkey. We would be happy to host the 13th OIC Summit of Leaders," Cicek indicated.
Cicek asked for the support of OIC member states in Turkey's bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games in Istanbul.
Cicek also asked the OIC member states to extend more support to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan.
Cicek meets Sudanese vice president
Cemil Cicek met Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha in Khartoum
Cicek is currently visiting Sudan to attend the eight term meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Cicek-Taha meeting was closed to press.
Diplomatic sources said that bilateral relations, regional matters and agenda items of OIC meeting were discussed during Cicek-Taha meeting.
