CUMHURIYET- Columnist Yalcin Dogan comments on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and European Union Joint Forum. A summary of his column is as follows:
Attendance at the forum is political, whereas its discussions are academic, and we must wonder whether there will be a significant joint declaration following the meeting. When these facts are taken into consideration, the stance of Turkey becomes clear. It is being extremely careful and trying to provide one more opportunity for the issue to be reviewed by the public without offending anyone. Therefore, to expect concrete results from this forum and their reflections to the world arena would be extremely optimistic. The EU and OIC are coming together for the first time to discuss an extremely sensitive issue for both of them. The two sides, the Islamic world accused of sheltering political terrorists and the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, are confronting each other. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem observed a tension between the sides, the clash between Islam and Christianity. In order to ease this tension, which could lead to great dangers, he launched his initiative for a meeting. Turkey has avoided labeling the Christian-Islamic tension as a 'conflict'. 'Therefore, the joint declaration worked on by the representatives of 88 nations at the forum is mainly based on the principle of living together peacefully without touching on sensitive issues. However, the US, Russia and China should also have been invited to this forum. These nations belong to neither the OIC nor the EU. However, the issue concerns all of them as well.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION