The 12th OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) summit, which was held in Cairo, Egypt, on 6 and 7 February, has resulted in the synonymous calls for dialogue, among the opposition and the government officials from the member countries. The OIC, which came into existence on September 25, 1969, in Morocco, is a 57-member Islamic body which endeavours to resolve the issues that lie before the Muslim nations. ‘Muslim World: New Challenges and Expanding Opportunities’ was the title of the summit and it discussed seven main agenda namely, Palestine, conflict and humanitarian situations in Muslim world, Islamophobia and cooperation in economic, scientific, technological, cultural and information affairs.
Syria has been witnessing slaughtering of its civilians by the Assad regime who is trying to hold onto power in the war-torn state. As per the records, 60,000 people have died in the 23-month long conflict. Since long there have been attempts to intervene militarily in Syria; however Russia and China continuously vetoed the resolution to intervene. The summit upheld the belief that the solution to the Syrian crisis must be resolved through dialogue and there is a need to refrain from the extremist propaganda or the killing of the innocent civilians. The Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi urged the Syrian government to pay heed to the past and take lessons from history. He said, “The Syrian regime must draw lessons from history: it is the people who remain. Those who put their personal interests above the interests of their people will end up leaving.”
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, read from letter from King Abdullah that the United Nations has failed to create peace in Palestine and Syria. Though the letter read that the level of crimes in Syria have reached “new heights” and the Muslim world needs to break its “silence,” yet he did not enunciate what should be the strategy to counter the problem and what would be the manifestation of the breaking of “silence” of the Muslim world. However, one thing that can be taken for sure is that the UN could do nothing to prevent such large scale killings that have take place in Syria and has failed miserably, both in the case of Palestine and Syria.
Another highlight of the summit was the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. As the summit focussed on the Syrian crisis, the presence of Iran was strange as it has remained a strong ally of the Assad government. The visit was further seen as historic as it was after the first visit of Iranian President after the 34 years of estrangement with the nation. The two nations came at loggerheads with each other after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Recently in an interview with the Egyptian state television Ahmedinejad said that he would like the Syrian opposition and the regime to negotiate “a solution to the crisis, through mutual understanding.” He further said that the talks should lead to “free elections and the Syrian people are the ones who decide Syria’s fate.”
The communiqué drafted by OIC foreign ministers places the blame on the Assad regime for the brutal killings that have taken place and are taking place in Syria. There is a stress for dialogue and the formation of transitional government which would take the responsibility until the political change process reaches completion. The text says, “We urge the Syrian regime to show wisdom and call for serious dialogue to take place between the national coalition of the Syrian revolution, opposition forces, and representatives of the Syrian government committed to political transformation in Syria and those who have not been directly involved in any form of oppression….”
However, as usual, the summit saw the divide and stark differences of opinions among the member states. The OIC summit also discussed the situation in Mali, where the colonial power France invaded at the beginning of this year. The differences crept in again at the summit where the neighbouring Senegal supported the invasion of France; however the Egyptian president condemned the act.
If we take a broader look at the conference then it seems that the conference resulted in nothing concrete or beneficial. The issue of Syria was discussed however there was hardly any plan that got chalked out for facilitating the talks. It is fine that that things need to be solved by dialogue, however a clear outline as to how the thing should be achieved should have come out from the summit.
The main reason why OIC fails to deliver every time is that the member states are divided among themselves. There are some countries which are aligned towards the United States, whereas there are other countries which are not. Hence the summits do not result in any unanimous decision at any given issue. Another cause of difference arises because of the Shia-Sunni divide among the nations which aggravates the situation and dents the way forward.