Check Against Delivery

Excellencies,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very much pleased to be here among you today.

I would like to thank Secretary General, His Excellency Ahmed Aboul GHEIT, and on his behalf all members of the Arab League, for this kind invitation.

I also would like to extend my congratulations to His Excellency Mohamed Salem Ould MARZOUK, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moritania and His Excellency Dr. Shayea Mohsen AL-ZINDANI, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen for the chairmanships.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We meet today at a time of historic responsibility for all of us.

The international system fails to prevent genocide in Palestine.

It is time for unity and solidarity to defend our people and our dignity.

We cannot accept that Palestinian lives, Arab lives and Muslim lives matter less than others.

The collective punishment of people of Gaza is now increasingly spreading to West Bank.

Israel is taking advantage of current circumstances and exploiting divisions.

Our ranks must be watertight: Be it Arab countries, be it Muslim countries, be it Palestinian factions, be it the United Nations.

Only then, we can stop this barbaric war machine.

Türkiye has imposed full trade restrictions on Israel. We will not restore trade until Israel accepts the ceasefire and enables unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.

We also submitted our declaration of intervention in the lawsuit before the International Court of Justice initiated by South Africa.

The bloodshed we are witnessing today is the direct result of impunity after previous rounds of aggression.

This time it has to be different. Those responsible should be held accountable before international courts.

One thing needs to be precise: Those who still provide support to Netanyahu, continue to be accomplices of the ongoing genocide. They will also be held to account.

Distinguished Colleagues,

We are all aware that there can be no lasting peace without a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

And there can be no illusion of security for Israel without the two-state solution, based on 1967 lines, independent and sovereign Palestinian state with Quds as its capital.

International law has spoken loud and clear: Israel’s occupation is illegal. Decades of occupation, oppression and violence must come to an end.

Israel cannot get away with creating illegal fait accomplis on the ground.

Another recent example is Israel’s reckless efforts to change the identity of Jerusalem and violate the historical status quo in Haram Al-Sharif.

The storming of Haram Al-Sharif by hundreds of radical Israelis under police protection is a brazen provocation.

The involvement of Ministers in such provocations testify to the degree of moral collapse of the Israeli government.

It should be evident to everyone. The Muslim world will do whatever it takes to preserve the Islamic identity of Haram Al-Sharif.

With the same spirit, we will continue our joint action to put pressure on the international community to reject Israel’s actions.

OIC-Arab League Contact Group has been an invaluable part of that joint action.

Dear Colleagues,

Protecting civilians in conflicts and providing uninterrupted and sufficient humanitarian aid is not only a legal responsibility, but also a humanitarian and moral one.

Israel blatantly exempts itself from fulfilling these responsibilities.

People are being deprived of access to services essential for their survival.

We are working hard to help them. We have sent more than 60.000 tons of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Many of you are also doing the same.

However, there is still no safe, unimpeded and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to entire territory of Gaza.

I visited Rafah Border Crossing last month, to raise awareness on this issue. I witnessed first-hand how hard and well-organized our Egyptian brothers and sisters work. I thank their efforts once again.

I also highly appreciate the role of Qatar and Egypt to achieve ceasefire.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

As I stand here today, I cannot help but think of the centuries long interaction that we have with the Arab world.

We live side by side. We are affected by the same problems. We share similar perspectives.

We have been furthering our bilateral agendas with regular exchanges.

This ranges from deepening political coordination to increasing cooperation on trade, energy and investments.

We have potential to further our relations in various areas from tourism, economy, connectivity, technology sharing, defense industry as well as combat terrorism.

Egyptian President Sisi’s official visit to Türkiye was the most recent high level exchange with our Arab brothers.

We also held the 1st High Level Strategic Cooperation Council Meeting co-chaired by our Presidents.

We would like to give a fresh impetus to our dialogue with the League of Arab States as well. It is high time we strengthened our mechanisms of cooperation.

There is no more time to lose.

The Turkish-Arab Economic Forum will hold its 15th session in October, in Istanbul.

This is one of our main instruments to further develop our economic ties and explore new avenues for cooperation.

We are eager to refresh and further develop current mechanisms, such as,

- Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum,

- Economy, Trade and Investment Ministers of the Cooperation Forum,

- Turkish-Arab Parliamentarian Dialogue.

We can also jointly develop new mechanisms with a forward-looking vision.

There is immense potential and we are ready.

Dear Colleagues,

We do not only share the same faith. We are connected by our history, geography and time-tested bonds of friendship and solidarity.

We are also facing common regional challenges and threats.

The problems of the region can only be properly addressed by the actors of the region.

That is why we have long emphasized regional ownership.

Yet, divisions in the Arab world and divisions in the Muslim world have opened the door to foreign intervention and manipulation. We cannot allow this to continue anymore.

At this time of upheaval in our region, our unity will be critical.

Türkiye is sincere in its approach towards the Arab world and has the necessary political will.

We need to formulate a common strategic vision. We need to jointly work towards regional stability and security.

We do not have any other option.

We stand ready to work with all of you bilaterally and collectively and build on the partnership that we have with the Arab League.

Let us recognize the power and responsibility that we all have to forge a better future together.

Thank you very much.