Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Expanded Extraordinary Meeting of OIC Executive Committee, 12 August 2014, Jeddah Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Meeting of Turkey-CARICOM Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism, 18 July 2014, İstanbul Speech of H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Conference on “International Development Cooperation: Trends and Emerging Opportunities -Perspectives of the New Actors”, 20 June 2014, Istanbul Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the 41st Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, 18 June 2014, Jeddah Speech Delivered by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, 28 May 2014, Algeria Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, 21 May 2014, Shanghai Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Meeting of Group of Friends of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, 2 April 2014, New York Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on the Latest Developments in the Central African Republic, 20 February 2014, Jeddah Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Geneva II Conference, Montreux, 22 January 2014 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 16th Session of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers, 19 December 2013, Islamabad Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 29th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, 12 December 2013, Yerevan Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization, 26 November 2013, Tehran Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Member States, 25 November 2013, Manama Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the High Level Segment Meeting During the 64th Excom Meeting of UNHCR, Geneva, 30 September 2013 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Group of Friends Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, 27 September 2013, New York Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting entitled “LDC Graduation: The Way Towards MDG Acceleration, Sustainable Development and Structural Transformation”, 27 September 2013, New York Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum Opening Speech by H.E. Ahmet Davutoglu Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, 27 September 2013, New York Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 22nd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, İstanbul, 29 June 2013 Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 28th Ministerial Meeting of BSEC, 21 June 2013, Odessa Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the OIC Donor Conference in Support of The City of Al-Quds, Baku, Azerbaijan, 11 June 2013 Speech delivered by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Mali, 13 May 2013, Jeddah Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Somalia Conference, 7 May 2013, London Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process, 26 April 2013, Almaty Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the Third Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, 9 April 2013, The Hague Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 24th Summit Meeting of the League of Arab States, 26 March 2013, Doha Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, in the University of London School of Economics and Political Science, 7 March 2013, London Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the UN Human Rights Council, 25 February 2013, Geneva Statement by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Ministerial Meeting Preparatory to the Twelfth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, 4 February 2013, Cairo Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the Ministerial Meeting of BSEC,15 December 2012, İstanbul Opening Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, 14 December 2012, Abu Dhabi
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  5. Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on the Latest Developments in the Central African Republic, 20 February 2014, Jeddah
Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on the Latest Developments in the Central African Republic, 20 February 2014, Jeddah

Dear Chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guinea Mr. Lounceny Fall,
H.E. Secretary-General Dr. Iyad Madani,
Esteemed Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Chairman and Secretary-General of the OIC for convening this timely meeting and also would like to congratulate for assuming this very important mission.

The rapid deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic is of great concern to us all.

The situation is aggravated by the weakening of state authority and the collapse of the rule of law. As a result, the Central African Republic is faced with the imminent danger of disintegration and permanent division.

The plight of our Muslim brothers and sisters in particular has worsened markedly after Séléka units have been disbanded and left the capital. As we assemble here today, tens of thousands of Muslims are moving to the north of the country and take refuge in neighboring countries to save their lives.

I take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Governments of Chad and Cameroon for their efforts to accommodate these desperate refugees. I would like to emphasize that we are ready to work with them on this humanitarian issue and are always at their disposal.

Violence, which has led to the killings of dozens of Muslims and their mass exodus from the Central African Republic, poses a serious threat, not only to the future of the country itself, but to regional peace, security and stability as well.

The new interim government of the Central African Republic, which has been established following the N’Djamena Summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on 9-10 January 2014, must therefore focus all its efforts to ensure the security of the entire civilian population, regardless of their faith or religious background, and reconcile all sides, restore social cohesion and avoid lasting resentment.

Reconciliation efforts will also help to ease the humanitarian crisis, as improvement in the security situation will make possible the unhindered access of aid to those in need.

It is of utmost importance that we ensure that all perpetrators of violence and murder, bordering on crimes against humanity, shall ultimately be held accountable.

Moreover, those who have the capacity and the mandate to intervene and stop these criminal actions, have the responsibility to act immediately and decisively.

To this end, the work of the International Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Secretary-General as well as the Independent Expert on Human Rights, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in order to investigate reports of human rights violations, should be facilitated and supported by all.

Dear Colleagues,

The OIC is a responsible international body. And we, as members of the OIC, have to do whatever we can to ease the plight of our Muslim brothers and sisters in the midst of the African continent. We cannot leave these people to their destiny like orphans.

We have to encourage and help the interim Government of the Central African Republic to effectively protect its Muslim citizens and safeguard their places of worship, their mosques.

At this critical moment, our initiatives and concrete actions will send a strong and positive signal not only to the Central African people, but to the African continent as a whole and to the rest of the world.

Towards this end, we propose to establish an OIC fact-finding mission to the Central African Republic and also to appoint a special envoy.

Their objectives will be the following:

1) Analyze the concrete situation on the ground and contact all relevant parties in the country. The mission will then report to a follow-up meeting of the Executive Committee.

2) Increase the visibility of the OIC to strengthen the morale of the Muslim refugees.

3) Humanitarian assistance to the CAR and neighboring countries is very important. This can be included in the Action Plan.

4) Address the security issue on the ground.

5) Coordinate with the CAR authorities.

6) Coordinate with the neighbors of the CAR.

7) Coordinate with international organizations. The OIC Secretary-General is a very big asset for us in this regard.

An Action Plan to be prepared by the OIC has to include the political process in the country, humanitarian assistance and the security situation. This will give a good example for other OIC activities worldwide.

Turkey for its part, spares no effort to provide assistance in this regard. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) is currently organizing the delivery of humanitarian aid to refugees at the Chadian border. TIKA is also at the disposal of the OIC and is ready to cooperate with other agencies.

In the meantime, Turkey is sending a Special Representative and a humanitarian assessment team to Bangui next week, in order to elaborate how we can contribute effectively to the situation and what has to be done.

As a strategic partner of the African Continent, we believe that African matters should be addressed and resolved by Africans. In this respect, we welcome the efforts of the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) for their crucial and constructive roles in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Central African Republic.

We support a political transition, based on the road map which was laid out by the Economic Community of Central African States last year. Free, fair and transparent elections, to be held as soon as the situation in the Central African Republic turns to normal, is crucial.

We are working on our possible contribution to MISCA, the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic. We are also considering to participate in the European Union mission EUFOR CAR. We are ready to consult the OIC in this regard.

I would like to reiterate that Turkey will strongly support and participate in any initiative toward solving the crisis at hand in the Central African Republic.

Thank you.