Gul opens the COMCEC meeting

Speaking at the inauguration of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization for Islamic Conference (COMCEC) meeting yesterday in Istanbul, President Abdullah Gul said that today's social movements in our geography showed that it was now time for a change and that we were all going through an irreversible process of transformation. Gul suggested that political, social and economic reforms capable of meeting peoples' legal demands are immediately carried out in reconciliation and dialogue and that the concept of globalization also had an increasing effect on all fields. "The developments wear off the meaning of current borders, increase the countries' dependence on each other and turn international cooperation and solidarity into an obligation, rather than a need. The way to survive global economic problems for which we are not responsible is to boost commerce and joint investments and accelerate humanitarian, capital and information flow among the Organization for Islamic Conference countries," said Gul. He added that COMCEC has been gathering its members continuously for the last 27 years and serving to the establishment of a permanent cooperation among its members. Gul said that he was honored to chair COMCEC, adding, "I'm very pleased to see that a historical transformation has been occurring in many Islam countries towards this end for one year. I consider the removal of visa requirements among certain COMCEC-member countries as an important step aimed at free movement of citizens. The dialogue and cooperation will boost quality of tourism services and competitiveness and allow our countries to take their share from the tourism that they deserve."