OOC: I'll put the subjects into the first post of the thread for easier access, as well as votes/resulting decisions/etc for this turn.
1. Decide and vote on the definition and rights of observer status.
-Observer entities should be allowed to bring matters concerning their muslim minorities to OIC's attention, without the need for any approval or endorsement from any country, as none of our members are supposed to object the voicing of concerncs of their Muslim brothers, no matter where they live. For the same reason we oppose Indonesia's proposal to allow ejecting an observer by only 10 votes. We think, as they need 2/3 votes to acquire the status, many observers will can have more than 10 opposing members from the start. We suggest 2/3 of the members need to petition for an observer's removal, and 5/6 for a member.
-In summary observers should speak freely, but have no say in votings
(ooc: same as the observers in other threads - I still don't know why are we even having this discussion?)
2. Vote weather defining standard requirements for membership and observership stati is necessary or applications should be viewed case by case. The following subsections are if the former option is decided.
2a. Discuss and agree on the specifics of the criteria.
2b. Decide whether a review of stati of existing members and observers is necessary if any member or observer does not fit the new criteria.
2. Keeping in mind that we have
members with muslim populations as low as 10% we are undecided on whether a definition is necessary.
2a. Turkey's opinion is that any country or organization with significant muslim population should be able to apply observership, and then it may gain the status with 2/3 of member's votes. If "significant" is to be defined, it will need two alternate criteria, one of proportion (for example more than 5%) and another of quantity (for example more than 10 million). Any entity exceeding either limit should be allowed to freely apply for observership, and get it if 2/3 of the members approve. (Similarly, 10% and 25million could be for membership applications.)
2b. We are undecided until we decide if and what the criteria may be.
3. Decision or voting of new applications according to the new regulations, for the applications of EU, India, and Chechnya.
Yes to EU (in the case that they are not given observership status, Turkey will be willing to act as intermediary between OIC and EU)
Yes to India
No to Chechnya (due to existing Russian observership)
4. Come up with a more regular schedule for the future Islamic Summit Conferences. In the past there hasn't been a regular interval.
We suggest every 4 years...we also suggest Secretary General be regularly elected in these summits.
5. Elect a new Secretary General as Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu's term started at the beginning of 2005, it ends at the end of 2008. Therefore, around the end of the year, we'll need to elect a new SG to take over in 2009.
OOC: I don't think Secretary General's origin country matters, his job is like the UNSG, and is elected depending on the candidate's knowledge and background, rather than politics or diplomacy. So our discussions here wouldn't affect his election much. I suppose we may determine the SG randomly, or by election, or decide to give the Secretariat to a player who doesn't mind updating stuff (which might or might not involve starting a new thread), and who will use the title of the Secretary General only for organizational housekeeping purposes (I think I have been doing that so far).
6. Discuss what can be done to reduce violence in Muslim lands.
6a. East Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia)
6b. Darfur, Sudan
6c. Iraq
6d. Afghanistan (and a little bit of the Pakistani side of their border)
6e. Palestine
-We think, as OIC countries constitute a significant portion of the UN, we can lobby the UN into some (more) action in Africa.
-Public documentation of the deliberations in the League of Arab States indicates its members are acting for Iraq.
-We will do further lobbying for Afghanistan in NATO, and we have readied an infantry division and some commando training personnel to deploy there. We believe it may be more beneficial to have muslim troops then not. Our past experience as the Allied Command in Afghanistan indicated that muslim troops fare better, because the locals don't view them with default enmity.
-Palestine is still mostly unsolvable, and in such cases a third party's meddling other than mere protection often sets the diplomacy back.
7. Discuss what can be done to improve diplomatic problems in muslim lands.
7a. Jammu-Keshmir
7b. Cyprus
7c. Chechnya
Cyprus and Chechnya seem to have solved themselves peacefully. Jammu-Kashmir seems to be on a similar path.
8. Discuss what can be done to improve the relations between Muslim world in the non-Muslim world.
Can we please avoid comments that we know to be obviously destined to inflame the rest of the world, at least until the relations improve
(eyeing the representative from Iran)
Turkey also proposes some reconciliatory statement to be declared from this summit about acknowledging Denmark's constructive efforts following the caricature dispute, that OIC believes the West has realized our sensitivity in the issue, and that they will be more considerate of muslim feelings in the future.
9. Discuss ways of improving the Muslim world
9a. feasibility of increasing the role of Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (COMCEC)
The first divine command prophet Muhammad recieved was "Read!". So we propose to add to the organizational aims:
3c)Work to minimize illiteracy and ignorance.
Educating muslims everywhere is the only long term solution to prevent loss of innocent believers to malinterpretations of our religion by fundamentalist terrorist leaders or other undesirable factions. Fundamentalists in some places may have successfully blocked the spread of education by individual governments, but they won't be able to reasonably argue against a unified policy coming from all OIC countries.
For this, we can request some aid from UNICEF, and also create a funding ourselves...or maybe wait for some years through which muslim countries may improve their economies to fund this.
