Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 13 April (BelTA) – Belarus hopes that the country’s application for observer status in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will go through the relevant procedures faster. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement before the Belarusian delegation led by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko left for Istanbul to take part in the OIC summit, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Makei said: “We hope that our participation in the summit, our meetings will accelerate the processing of the application for Belarus’ observer status. It will allow us to more tangibly work in the relevant structures of the organization, in various committees and the secretariat.”

The official noted that the OIC summit that will take place in Istanbul, Turkey in the next few days will not be another routine event since it will gather leaders of several dozens of OIC member states with the total population of about 1 billion people. “We maintain very tight contacts with the Muslim world. We are members of the Non-Aligned Movement. We have submitted an application for observer status in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Taking into account the tight relations, bearing in mind the fact that our foreign policy priorities and foreign trade priorities conceptually coincide with approaches of Islamic states the organizers of the summit have decided to invite Belarus as a special guest,” said the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During Alexander Lukashenko’s stay in Istanbul the discussions will touch upon the development of Belarus’ bilateral relations with a number of foreign states, which are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. A number of bilateral meetings and negotiations have been planned. “They represent potential target markets for our merchandise. The meetings will allow us to discuss prospects of a multipolar world, prospects of improving the world order and our trade and economic interaction,” noted Vladimir Makei.