Davutoglu underlines re-building democratic atmosphere and protecting territorial integrity of Mali as Turkey’s priorities.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday said that Turkey was against unilateral intervention in Mali, adding that the efforts should be conducted under the roof of United Nations.
Speaking at the Anadolu Agency Editor’s Desk on Friday, Davutoglu made assessment on the latest developments in Mali.
Davutoglu stated that in the south of the North Africa a delicate band had emerged in parallel with the developments in the North Africa.
Noting that the situation in Mali was critical, Davutoglu stated that Mali was the centre country of the Sahara region, and the city of Timbuktu where can be seen the marks of Turkish civilisation, is a place to be protected.
“Turkey’s policy on Mali is clear. We have cooperated with African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in terms of re-building democratic atmosphere and protecting territorial integrity of Mali,” Davutoglu said.
Touching on France’s military operation in Mali, Davutoglu said, “We attach importance to solve the problem primarily inside Mali, and than in the African Union and ECOWAS. Whenever such a kind of issues becomes internationalized, it can get more complicated. What’s important is to carry out those efforts under the umbrella of United Nations. No country should perform an intervention itself or with another country.”
Recalling that he had a phone conversation with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu on Thursday, the Minister Davutoglu said that he had requested from Ihsanoglu that Mail issue should be on the top of the agenda during OIC’s February summit in Cairo.
“We took official steps in the direction of organizing an extraordinary meeting that can be attended by also foreign ministers, in terms of which steps should be taken on Mali. We asked to the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene member countries for an extraordinary meeting on Mali” Davutoglu said.
