OIC aims to save young Muslims from terror groups

ISTANBUL (AA) – The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has decided to develop common policies to keep young Muslims away from terrorist organizations.

Elshad Iskandarov, president of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC), told Anadolu Agency in the wake of the third session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers on Oct. 5 and 7 in Istanbul.

“FETO [Fetullah Terrorist Organization] has taken advantage of young Muslims' problems as Daesh and the PKK did before. The only difference was that FETO did not use a weapon. It approached good-humoredly, but exploited young people,” Iskandarov said.

He stressed that the governments and NGOs should fill the gaps, such as low employment, exploited by terrorist organizations to recruit youths.

“If we are not filling the gaps, this gives harmful organizations the opportunity to take advantage,” he said, adding that young people should be employed, involved in society, of which the culture and religion should be taught properly.

Iskandarov also stated that the youth and sports ministers of the 57-member countries in the conference titled "Empowering Youth for Peace, Solidarity and Development", had decided to develop common policies on youth unemployment, education, entrepreneurship and encouraging early marriage.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday the number of youths in their teen years joining the PKK terrorist organization had slowed in 2016 compared to previous years.

Speaking during the opening academic ceremony of a state university in Turkey’s western coastal province of Izmir, Yildirim said the PKK could no longer deceive and recruit young people.

Yildirim said over 4,500 young people had joined the PKK in 2014 “but they could only get only around 400 youths" in 2016.

Founded in 1969, the OIC, with a current membership of 57 states, is "an international organization working to protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony".

The second largest intergovernmental organization after the UN, the OIC claims to beit "the collective voice of the Muslim world".

Turkey has been a member since 1969.