Saudi, Turkish FMs Discuss Preparations for Emergency OIC Meeting

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives at the general assembly of the BIE, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Paris. (AP)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives at the general assembly of the BIE, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Paris. (AP)
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Saudi, Turkish FMs Discuss Preparations for Emergency OIC Meeting

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives at the general assembly of the BIE, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Paris. (AP)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives at the general assembly of the BIE, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Paris. (AP)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah held telephone talks on Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about the upcoming Organization for Islamic Cooperation emergency meeting that will be held in Jeddah.

The meeting will address the latest Quran-burning incident in Sweden that happened on the first day of Eid al-Adha.

The FMs discussed the preparations for the meeting, cooperation over regional issues and efforts to combat Islamophobia.

On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee, 37, from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm as 200 Muslims were inside the mosque.

Swedish police had authorized the protest, citing freedom of speech, after a previous decision to ban a similar protest was overturned by a Swedish court.

The act drew widespread condemnation in the Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia strongly denounced the act. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday suggested that the incident would pose another obstacle to Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.

Saudi Arabia had called for the emergency OIC meeting as its president during its current round.



Syria’s Leader Meets with Bahraini Diplomatic Delegation

The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria’s Leader Meets with Bahraini Diplomatic Delegation

The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa received a delegation from Bahrain on Wednesday and met with the Bahraini foreign minister, state media reported.

The visit was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic overtures by Arab countries to Syria’s new leaders after they overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

Like other Gulf countries, Bahrain had cut off diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad’s rule during the Syrian civil war, but it reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018 and gradually restored ties with the Assad government.

Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit, and days after Assad’s ouster it had sent a message to al-Sharaa offering its cooperation with the new authorities and saying, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.”