Ihsanoglu: The Syrian Regime Followed a Scorched-Earth Policy

The Secretary General of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, (OIC), Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu stated that the regime in Syria, by rejecting OIC’s good offices and ignoring International efforts, deliberately and intentionally followed a scorched-earth policy, and pushed the crisis there to the extreme. He emphasized that the regime has waged a virulent campaign which wreaked havoc, destroyed the infrastructure, displaced millions of Syrians. In his remarks to the OIC Humanitarian Consultative Platform for Syria, in Istanbul, Saturday 24 November 2012, Ihsanoglu stressed that this painful reality requires the platform to display greater humanitarian and political responsibility vis-à-vis the outcome in Syria now and the expected requirements in future. He asserted that for this reason, OIC called for the convening of this platform. The Secretary General confirmed that the platform meant to be a reliable body for the sharing of information among the NGOs in the Islamic World and member states of OIC. On another hand, Ihsanoglu informed the participants in the platform that the recent OIC Conference of Foreign Ministers held last week in Djibouti adopted the long awaited rules of procedure granting the consultative status to the NGOs in the member states. In different vein, Ihsanoglu affirmed once again OIC’s support to the recent truce in Gaza strip after the unjustified Israeli aggression against the innocent population there. He said that this aggression confirms the OIC principled position that peace and stability will not prevail in the region without a comprehensive and faire political solution to the Palestinian question. He added that this process should start by immediate lifting of siege and all sanctions imposed on Gaza followed by serious negotiations to conclude an all-inclusive agreement. The Secretary General concluded his speech by reiterating his appeal to all the OIC Member States NGOs and financial institutions to extend immediate humanitarian assistance to gravely needy populations in Gaza.