Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey asked the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take a leading part to keep the situation of Myanmar Muslims on the agenda of international community.

In his statement at the meeting of the OIC Contact Group for the Rohingya Muslim Minority held on April 14, 2013 in Jeddah with a view to review the violence committed to Muslim Minority in Myanmar on March 20-28, 2013, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stressed that the problems of the Muslim minority in Myanmar remain to be addressed.

Expressing the concern of the Turkish government and the Turkish people with regard to the violence against the Rohingya Muslims, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu emphasized that these acts of violence were well organised and executed with impunity. These new events show that there could be some people in Myanmar who are willing to nurture hatred between the two communities at the expense of creating long-term instability in a country said Foreign Minister Davutoğlu underlined that in light of these developments, it is clear that like every responsible government, the Myanmar Government should do its utmost to prevent such events in the future with determination.

With a view to ending the violence against the Muslim minority in Myanmar, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu asked the OIC to continue to call upon the Myanmar Government to be vigilant against the repetition and further spread of acts of violence targeting Muslims in the country, to take all necessary steps to prevent the alienation of the Muslim and Buddhist communities.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu also proposed that the Heads of State and Government of the OIC countries should send a joint letter to the President of Myanmar reflecting feelings of the OIC countries.

The expectation that all those who have lost their homes during both the events be returned to their original homes must be made clear added Foreign Minister Davutoğlu. He said that the OIC Rohingya Contact Group visiting Myanmar could assess the situation on the ground and also emphasized that in the meantime, Muslim opinion leaders and NGOs should express their views to their counterparts, first and foremost to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyii

Pointing the growing role of the Alliance of Civilisations, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu mentioned that Turkey is ready, as co-sponsor of the Alliance of Civilizations, to host a meeting between the respective parties to resolve the outstanding issues between the Buddhist and Muslim communities through dialogue.

Following the meeting, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu held bilateral meetings with Zalmay Rasul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and Mohamed Kamil Amr, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt.