Bangladesh condemns terrorist attack in emergency OIC meeting on New Zealand
Bangladesh has joined the emergency OIC executive committee meeting at the foreign minister level in Istanbul and condemned the terrorist attacks in the New Zealand mosques.
The foreign ministry said Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury represented Bangladesh during Friday’s meeting which was called following the Mar 15 attacks in Christchurch in which 50 Muslims including five Bangladeshis were killed.
Chowdhury condemned the terrorist attacks and expressed solidarity with Muslim community in New Zealand.
He emphasised the need to stand up together against this menace across all social, cultural, education and legal platforms to dispel Islamophobia and promote interfaith harmony in a comprehensive manner.
The minister also underlined enhanced OIC collaboration within the umbrella of the UN, the foreign ministry said.
The meeting was convened and chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the current Chair of OIC Summit.
Foreign Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters also attended the session at the invitation of Turkey as a guest of honour.
He delivered a statement with emphasis on interfaith harmony and gave a brief description of actions taken by his government to express and extend support and respect to the Muslims in New Zealand.
During his statement a brief video was presented showing the outpouring of sympathy by New Zealanders and recitation of verses from holy Quran at the opening session of New Zealand parliament a couple of days ago.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a statement before the meeting highlighting the importance of collective efforts by OIC to tackle this menace of terrorism and Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims in non-Muslim countries.
The Bangladesh minister reiterated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy for terrorism and violent extremism.
He also highlighted the issue of persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state in Myanmar who have taken refuge in Bangladesh.
The emergency meeting ended with adoption of a communique calling for taking pragmatic measures by OIC to tackle this menace of terrorism, Islamophobia and hatred against Muslim around the world.
The session was preceded by a meeting of senior officials on Thursday evening in which Ambassador Gousal Azam Sarker, Director General (International Organization) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Bangladesh side. Ambassador to Turkey M Allama Siddiki was also present.
