PUTRAJAYA - Tenth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ended in Malaysia on Friday.
The session ended after a final statement was issued.
Iraq issue, restructuring of OIC in order to be more active in efforts to solve international problems, Palestinian issue, and Israel's attack on Syria were debated during the meeting.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul represented Turkey in the summit.
Sezer is expected to leave Malaysia for Turkey on Saturday.
PRESIDENT SEZER MEETS WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENT KHATAMI AND RECEIVES BANGLADESHI AND LEBANESE PRIME MINISTERS
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had bilateral contacts within the scope of Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) tenth term summit on Friday.
President Sezer who met separately with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad in the morning.
Diplomatic circles said that the Iraqi issue constituted the basis of Sezer-Putin meeting. President Sezer told Putin that the conditions would be assessed regarding the use of the authority taken from the parliament about Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq, stressing the importance of normalization of the situation in Iraq.
President Sezer recalled that Article 92 of the Constitution necessitated the condition of international legitimacy for sending troops abroad, considering the recent resolution taken by the U.N. Security Council within that framework.
President Sezer reiterated his invitation to Putin who said that he would be pleased to come to Turkey in 2004.
In Sezer's meeting with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the two leaders noted that the bilateral relations were at a good level and Sezer reiterated his invitation to Khatami to come to Turkey.
The Iraqi issue was again on the agenda in Sezer's meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. Sezer told al-Asad that the authority given by the parliament to the government didn't mean sending soldiers automatically. The two leaders also shared the view that Turkish-Syrian relations were on the right track.
In Sezer's meeting with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the two officials discussed the elections for OIC secretariat general that would be held in Turkey during OIC foreign ministers meeting next spring. Sezer told the Bangladeshi side which had a candidate for the post OIC Secretary General that Turkey also intended to show a candidate.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul also had bilateral contacts within the scope of OIC summit.
Gul met with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister bin Ahmad Badawi Abdullah. Foreign Minister Gul told Badawi, who is expected to be the next prime minister in Malaysia that OIC should be more active about the Iraqi issue.
(BRC-ÖŞ-AY) 17.10.2003