Erdogan lauds OIC's rising clout on world stage

During his talks in Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday visited the headquarters of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah, and expressed satisfaction at the 57-member group's growing role on the world stage. Speaking at a joint press conference alongside OIC Secretary-General and Turkish scholar Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Erdogan thanked Saudi King Abdullah for awarding him the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam. "I am proud of being selected for the King Faisal Prize, and I thank the jury as well as the King Faisal Foundation officials and all others who nominated me for the prize," Erdogan said, adding that the honor would give him a weighty responsibility to promote cultural dialogue and fight injustice wherever it occurs. Stressing the strong ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Erdogan said that he and Abdullah had discussed ways of strengthening political, economic and commercial cooperation. Erdogan hailed Saudi Arabia's progress under Abdullah, especially in education and the economy. He urged Saudi investors to invest in Turkey's telecom, health, energy, tourism and agricultural sectors, adding that the Turkish economy will see significant economic growth in the post-crisis era and in the decades to come. Asked about Israel's desire to hold direct talks with Syria, Erdogan said, "This decision isn't up to us. It's up to Syria and Israel how to hold talks. Turkey mediated between the two countries at their request. We had conducted five rounds of talks but those talks stopped when Israel attacked Gaza (in late 2008)." On Turkey's European Union accession bid, Erdogan said Turkey would not abandon its principles or its Islamic brethren once it joins the EU. "Turkey will not lean to either the left or right and will not forsake its values and principles during its negotiations to join the EU," he added. He said Turkey sees the EU as a political, social and economic union, not a religious one. "Our decisions are made on the basis of just and humanitarian principles," he said. "We've been waiting for EU membership for 50 years. We joined the European Customs Union a long time ago, and now we're waiting for acceptance on the political side." He then urged fair treatment of Turkey's EU bid.