The 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Oct. 18 and 19.
“The meeting will be attended by OIC’s 57 member countries,” Maha Akeel, OIC director for information and media department, told Arab News.
The meeting titled “Education and Enlightenment — Path to Peace and Creativity,” will discuss various issues, including the smear campaign against Islam.
She said that Secretary-General Iyad Madani will head the OIC delegation comprising heads of OIC’s departments on Palestine, political issues, the economy, science and technology, humanitarian issues and culture.
She added that the meeting will discuss the issues on Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Kashmir and the Muslim communities in Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. 
The issue of terrorism is also expected to be discussed during the meeting. It is the burning issue and needs to be addressed, she said. Uzbek Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alisher Kadirov said that Uzbekistan is gearing up for the event. “It’s expected that various resolutions concerning the Islamic world as well as the Tashkent Declaration will be adopted during the session,” he said. He added that the meeting will pay special attention to the role of education, science and technology in the development of the member states.
“The importance of peace and security, the need for intra-OIC solidarity, unity and economic cooperation, and the need to combat extremism and terrorism are also expected to be discussed,” he said.
The ambassador said that it’s expected that various resolutions concerning the Islamic world will be adopted during the session.
“A visit by the participants to the historic cities of Samarkand and Bukhara is being lined up by the organizers of the meeting,” he said.

Source: Arab News