Doha, Safar 20, 1438, Nov 20, 2016, SPA -- The Third Meeting of the Consultative Group for the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) kicked off here on Sunday. Secretary-General of Qatar's Foreign Ministry Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi said that today's meeting comes as a completion of the two previous meetings, noting in this regard the positive results and tangible progress, which were achieved in order to reach a real and comprehensive approach that includes new forms of cooperation in light of the rapid political developments of the current security challenges on the regional and international arenas. Dr. Al Hammadi said that the importance of this meeting has become clear if we take into account the current situation in the Middle East and the rest of the world in terms of exchange of views on reaching effective solutions to the challenges; organizing a constructive dialogue on the future of the partnership between the ICI countries and the NATO and strengthening cooperation dialogue in areas of common security challenges, terrorism and illegal activities, which are typically used to finance these threats, as well as crisis management, energy security and other issues related to security and stability. He stressed the special importance of this meeting due to the current developments in the Middle East and the world, pointing out that the regional situation has serious repercussions on the security and stability in the rest of the world. He urged the international community and all its components to come together to find solutions that lead to halting the deterioration of the situation in the region, QNA reported. --SPA 18:35 LOCAL TIME 15:35 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w273064