Kazakhstan took part in the OIC Ministerial Meeting

Islamabad, March 22, 2022 - The Kazakh delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi took part in the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held in the capital of Pakistan on the theme "Partnership for Unity, justice and development".

The event was attended by delegations of member states and observer countries of the OIC, as well as international organizations. The chairmanship of the OIC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was officially transferred from the Republic of Niger to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, while Palestine, Cameroon and Yemen were elected as Vice-Chairs.

Representatives of the OIC countries exchanged views on topical issues of the Middle East agenda, disarmament issues, countering international terrorism, combating Islamophobia, xenophobia, the OIC-2025 program of activities and other topics. The meeting also considered issues of developing cooperation in the field of economy, trade, transport, culture, science and technology, tourism and healthcare, information technology, water resources, the environment and climate change.

In his speech on behalf of the Asian Group, Tileuberdi expressed gratitude to the OIC member states for their solidarity and support to Kazakhstan during the tragic events in January. He declared the readiness of our country to continue to contribute to the process of ensuring global and regional security. In this context, he called on the Muslim Asian countries that did not join the CICA to become members of this regional security association.

Tileuberdi drew attention to the importance of the Code of Conduct initiated by Kazakhstan to achieve a world free from terrorism and the need to continue interfaith dialogue within the framework of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions to unite efforts in the fight against terrorism, extremism and Islamophobia.

Against the backdrop of continuing conflicts and military clashes among Muslim countries, he emphasized the role of the Astana process on Syria, as well as the relevance of the Kazakh initiative of Islamic reconciliation. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan noted the need to complete the process of reforming the OIC as soon as possible, which is especially important in the face of new challenges.

Following the results of the first day of the 48th session of the OIC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, a number of resolutions were adopted in the political, economic, scientific and technical, humanitarian, legal and organizational spheres, in which the consolidated position of Muslim countries on major global and regional problems is expressed. The final Islamabad Declaration was adopted at the end of the event.

On the sidelines of the session, Tileuberdi held a series of separate bilateral talks with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt - Sameh Shukri, Iraq - Fuad Hussein and Turkey - Mevlut Cavusoglu. The parties discussed the development of cooperation in a bilateral and multilateral format, as well as the schedules of high-level and top-level meetings.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (until 2011 - the Organization of the Islamic Conference) was established in 1969. The OIC General Secretariat is located in Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).

Currently, the OIC has 57 member states with a total population of about 1.7 billion people and is the second largest international organization after the UN. Five countries and 5 international organizations have observer status. Kazakhstan became a member of the Organization in December 1995.