Distinguished guests,

Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives,

Excellencies, Officials of the OIC

I wish to welcome you to this reception of our Permanent Mission to the OIC on the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of
Turkey.

As you might know, the Turkish Permanent Mission was established recently on 24 July 2015 in Jeddah, as the first fully fledged, resident and independent
diplomatic mission to represent Turkey in its relations with the OIC and carry out cooperation with the other Islamic countries under the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation.

On this occasion, I would like to reiterate Turkey’s commitment to the principles and goals of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and in particular to
advancing peace, security and prosperity throughout the world.

Turkey attaches highest importance to enhancing solidarity and cooperation with the OIC Member States and ready to share its resources, capacity and
capabilities in development, humanitarian assistance and capacity building throughout the Islamic world and beyond, especially in African and Asian
continents.

Today, Islamic world is faced with challenges stemming from the rise of violent extremism, terrorism, radicalism and Islamaphobia. DEASH, Al Qaida and
other terrorist and violent extremist groups poses a grave risk to the security and stability of our region. We need to make further, meaningful concrete
efforts to counter these threats within our Organization by also addressing the root causes of these problems.

The ongoing atrocities committed by the illegitimate Esad regime against its own people and the sectarian policies caused millions of people to become
internally displaced and refugees inside Syria and neighboring countries. The situation in Syrian and the actions of the Esad regime prepared a fertile
ground for the extremist terrorist organization DEASH in Syria.

Turkey has become the biggest refugee hosting country in the world as a result of the situation in Syria and we will never let our Syrian brother down and
never close the door, despite the strains the situation puts on our resources. Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and other countries have also opened their
doors and are hosting millions of Syrian refugees.

In Yemen we will continue to support the legitimacy and the efforts of the Coalition led by Saudi Arabia towards restoring the legitimate state authority
and ensuring a political resolution on the basis of relevant UN Security Council and OIC Resolutions. We welcome the first meeting of the OIC Contact Group
on Yemen which was established on the proposal of Turkey.

OIC, as the second largest international organization in the world in terms of membership has an enormous potential in contributing to international peace,
security, stability, dialogue, and development. With this in mind, the upcoming Summit of the OIC to be held in Istanbul on 14-15 April presents an
opportunity for Member States to reinvigorate and reinforce OIC’s role and relevance in this respect. The OIC 2025-Program of Action which is currently
under discussion, once adopted at the Summit will provide a road map towards this goal. Turkey is committed to working with the Member States in the OIC in
a spirit of solidarity and cooperation for the realization of the goals and actions of the Programme of Action.

In fact, as Turkey hosts many OIC institutions and in particular the President of the Republic of Turkey chairs the Standing Committee on Economic and
Commercial Cooperation, we will have key important role in the implementation of Programme of Action.

Distinguished guests,

Under the leadership of HE Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic, Turkey is determined to achieve its set 2023 Goals, the year the Republic will
celebrate its 100th anniversary. As the founder of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally set out, our ultimate goal is to achieve a level beyond
the contemporary civilization. As it takes great strides in achieving this goal Turkey will be making even more contributions to international peace,
security, stability and development. Especially, Turkey will continue to be a source of hope for the victims, its relatives, its brothers and all those
people who are persecuted like our Syrian brothers and sisters.

Thank you again for attending our reception and please accept my sincere regards.