The Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Mali at the Ministerial Level will be held on May 13, 2013 in Jeddah. Turkey will attend the meeting with a delegation presided by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Friendly and brotherly Mali with which we have historical relations has been faced with serious challenges in conjunction with the developments unfolding since January 2012.

During this period, Turkey acted, from the very beginning, in awareness of the importance of Mali’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political stability and backed the efforts exerted under the leadership of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in concord with the political will of Mali and with the support of the UN and the international community.

Moreover, Turkey has extended its support to friendly and brotherly Mali in high-level bilateral visits and an Action Plan was drafted in order to develop our relations in every field as agreed during the recent visit of the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to Turkey.

On the other hand, convinced that the OIC must support Mali in this process as all neighboring states affected by the developments are OIC members, Turkey brought the issue before the 12th OIC Summit held in Cairo last February.

The meeting to be held on May 13, 2013 in Jeddah by the Ministerial Contact Group on Mali, established with the Declaration adopted during the abovementioned Summit upon Turkey’s initiative, will be an opportunity for assessing the developments in Mali and for determining the steps that can be taken jointly.