Mustafa Sentop (pictured), Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, has said that Qatar-Turkey ties are exceptional in the world and the relations between the two countries will further strengthen with time.
“Qatar-Turkey relations are very exceptional in the world. There are many examples, from good days and bad days, which testify the strength of our relations,” Mustafa Sentop told The Peninsula in an interview on the sidelines of the 140th Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Doha.
The Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey said that the two countries had always been together.
“Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani always stood by Turkey and when Qatar had difficulties, Turkey stood with Qatar,” he added.
Terming Qatar-Turkey relations as “amazing”, Mustafa Sentop said: “We believe that these ties will strengthen with the passage of time. We love Qatar, Qatar loves us and we see this place as our second home.”
Talking on Qatar’s hosting of 140th Assembly of the IPU, he said that the IPU was the oldest organisation in the world, older than the UN.
“Almost every country in the world with a parliament is member of the IPU and for parliamentary diplomacy, it is very important. It is a place where countries with different political regimes meet to discuss issues and find solutions.”
He said that during the IPU Assembly and related meetings, Turkey would demonstrate its stance on important issues and challenges being faced by the world.
“The IPU’s structure has also many unions like a parliamentary union of Turkish speaking countries for which I am term president. Also, there is Asian Parliamentary Assembly for which I am term president too. These are some specific platforms where we get a chance to raise some important issues.”
Mustafa Sentop said that the world was going through important times and in such times, it was very important to say right things and take corrective measures.
“In preparatory meetings of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) and Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC), Turkey suggested emergency items on Islamophobia, xenophobia,” he said, adding that the situation of Muslim minorities in different countries was an important issue. “These are all serious problems therefore they should be discussed in the IPU Assembly and related meetings.” Sentop said that Palestinian people were facing religious racism. “Current human rights violation in Palestine should also be discussed in the Assembly,” he added.
The Speaker said that the Christchurch incident where 50 Muslims were massacred in a mosque was the reflection of a mindset. “The mentality behind racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia should be addressed. We should not only focus on an individual incident but should fight the mindset behind such incidents,” he observed.
In a separate statement to QNA, Mustafa Sentop said that the speech of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the opening of the 140th Assembly of IPU was very important and extraordinary in terms of topics and issues touched by H H the Amir.
