Jeddah, August 10, 2022, SPA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Republic of Türkiye opened the 5th Session of the Islamic Solidarity Games on Tuesday, August 09, 2022, in Konya, Republic of Türkiye, with the participation of the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF), Minister of Youth and Sports of Türkiye and Chair of the Organizing Committee Mehmet Kasapoglu. In his statement, the OIC Secretary General said that the convening of this session in Konya, at a time when the world is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, represents Türkiye’s commitment to promoting youth and sports in the Member States, supporting cultural pluralism and intercultural and inter-civilizational dialogue, and spreading Islamic values through sports. Taha added that this great event will contribute to supporting sports and youth in the Member States, as the Islamic Solidarity Games are one of the most significant sports events in the world, as it brings together nearly 4,000 athletes from different countries with diverse cultures. He stressed that the OIC attaches great importance to sports and youth, as the 13th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Istanbul in 2016 adopted the OIC Program of Action 2025, which gives special attention to youth and sports issues in the Islamic world. The Secretary General thanked the Republic of Türkiye for hosting this session and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its upcoming hosting of the 5th Session of the OIC Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers next September in Jeddah. --SPA 15:43 LOCAL TIME 12:43 GMT 0013 www.spa.gov.sa/w1771741