BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen writes on last week’s Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit held in Malaysia. A summary of his column is as follows:
Unfortunately, our media failed to provide due coverage to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s speech at the OIC Business Forum last week in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. However, Gul conveyed very meaningful messages to the OIC members in his address. Among the important points that he stressed were as follows:
1. The concepts of ‘Islam’ and ‘modernization’ are not contradictory. The Turkish experience shows that a Muslim society can achieve social, political and economic development. Religious values and modern life are not incompatible.
2. Muslim societies have unfortunately failed to reach high standards of living vis-a-vis democracy, equality and social rights. However, their young generations in particular are willing to work for and achieve democratic and social development. The far-reaching reforms of the current conservative administration in Ankara have taken even the most liberal circles aback.
3. The problems of Muslim countries can be resolved, and their institutions can be reformed. However, the greatest international problems seem to lie in the Western world, e.g. racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, violence and drug abuse. All countries should take effective measures to crack down on these scourges.
In his speech, Gul once again displayed the frankness and courage which we witnessed previously at the last OIC summit in Tehran. He made similar statements at that gathering, which also received great attention from Muslim leaders. His emphasis on the problems of violence, drug abuse, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia was found very meaningful by the OIC members. In addition, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer remarked at the summit that the Islamic world needs radical reforms and courageous decisions to catch up with developments in the rest of the world.
Both Sezer and Gul’s statements displayed our country’s vision on the concepts of Islam and modernization. Our outstanding experience in successfully synthesizing these two concepts constitutes a shining example to the Muslim world. It’s clear that the OIC needs new policies to deal with the realities of today’s world. However, the outcome of this summit has unfortunately disappointed us all since the organization failed to even reach a common declaration.