President Rouhani Due in Istanbul for OIC Summit

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to pay a visit to the Turkish city of Istanbul on Wednesday in a bid to take part in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) leader’s Summit.

Vice-President for Communication and Information Affairs Parviz Ismaili announced on Tuesday that President Rouhani will leave Tehran for Istanbul on Wednesday for the OIC summit.

In addition to his speech at the summit, Rouhani will hold bilateral meetings with participating Muslim leaders.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in the Turkish city of Istanbul to take part in the ministerial meeting of the OIC.

This year’s OIC Summit started with expert-level sessions, which were held on Sunday and Monday. A high-ranking Iranian delegation headed by Iran’s deputy foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi took part in the sessions to discuss the upcoming meetings’ agenda.

The Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held on Thursday and Friday in the Turkish city.

Based on previous announcements, more than 30 leaders and heads of states will partake the Summit led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The OIC Summit is held once in every three years. The previous summit was hosted by Egypt in 2013. The permanent Secretariat is located in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah.

The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations which has membership of 57 states spread over four continents.

The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world and ensuring to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.

The Organization was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco on 25 September 1969 as a result of criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).