Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of Muslim nations in Istanbul on March 22. The meeting will discuss ways of addressing anti-Islam sentiment following the twin mosque massacres in New Zealand.
This was announced by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday in a press conference in Islamabad. Turkey who is holding the rotatory OIC presidency decided to summon the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting after consultations.
Tribune India quoted Qureshi as saying, “The idea (behind summoning the meeting) is to devise a strategy against Islamophobia, while keeping the Christchurch tragedy in mind.” He added that the participants will discuss the root cause of the issue.
Ministers of 20 member countries including Iran, Pakistan, Libya, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Qatar and Somalia will attend the meeting. New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Jenny Salesa are likely to attend the meeting.