ANKARA -- Turkey is to host an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) conference on women's rights, a step in the direction of contributing to efforts to reform in the 57-nation organization and in the Muslim world.

The decision to hold a women's conference was been made earlier and member countries accepted an offer from Turkey to host the conference, the first of its kind in the OIC, during a summit of leaders of member countries in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Bülent Arinç is attending the two-day summit, which opened yesterday, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, who took part at a ministerial meeting of the OIC in preparation for the summit on Tuesday, was also present on the first day of the gathering. He is scheduled to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels today.

The date of the OIC conference on women's rights is not yet set.

The OIC's summit is convened to discuss reform efforts and is expected to endorse a 10-year action plan setting out a reform agenda for the organization and the Muslim world.

Gül made a resounding call for reform in a speech he made at an OIC ministerial meeting in Tehran in 2003.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the first Turk to head the OIC, has been promoting an agenda of reform and moderation.

"We do not have the luxury of blaming others for our own problems. It is high time we addressed our national and regional problems with courage, sincerity and openness," Ihsanoglu said in his speech at the summit yesterday.

"We should fight terrorism by dealing with its roots and causes, whether committed by individuals, groups or states," Ihsanoglu said. "Terrorism is a crime that every Muslim should fight."

While discussions during the two-day summit are expected to focus on terrorism, delegates will also seek to forge a plan to reform the 57-member organization in a bid to give it more clout in international affairs.

"The future of humanity depends on this part of the world," Ihsanoglu said. "What is going on in the Islamic world has dire consequences elsewhere."

"Lack of moderation is one of the main sources of instability and chaos in the modern world," he also said. He stressed the need to combat poverty, illiteracy and corruption in the Muslim world, saying, "When these issues are not addressed properly by legitimate means, they are used as an excuse to push for extreme agendas."

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, speaking at the opening session, also called for moderation.

"Islamic unity can't be achieved by the spilling of blood, as deviant people claim by their dark ideas," he said.

Turkish Daily News