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Istanbul, Friday, 18 May 2018

Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali, M.P., is leading an eight-member Bangladesh delegation to the 7th Extraordinary Summit of the OIC in Istanbul today on 18 May 2018. The Summit has been convened by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his capacity as Chair of the OIC Summit. Foreign Minister Ali is participating it as the Chair of the 45th Council of Foreign Minister.

The Foreign Minister’s delegation includes Security Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister, Major Gen. (rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Bangladesh PR to OIC Amb. Golam Moshi, Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey Mr. M. Allama Siddiki, and other senior officials of the Ministry and Bangladesh Missions.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister has begun his busy day by attending the Council of Foreign Ministers preparatory to the Summit as chair of the current CFM in the podium, while the Adviser for Defence and Security to the Prime Minister, led Bangladesh delegation in the Council meeting. The Summit is taking place later today.

The Council was preceded by the Senior Official Meeting (SOM) yesterday on 17 May 2018 that prepared the draft Final Communique and the Bangladesh delegation to the SOM was led by Amb. AFM Gousal Azam Sarker, DG of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Summit is focusing on the massacre of the peaceful Palestinian civilian protesters by the Israeli forces as well as on the official opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on 14 May 2018.

Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali would convey that the people and the Government of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina strongly condemn and totally reject the Israeli atrocities, deplore the US relocation of the Embassy, and express full support, sympathy and solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters in their legitimate cause of an independent, viable and contiguous state of Palestine under a two-state solution.

The Council has reached consensus on the Final Communique for adoption by the Summit tonight.