OIC foreign ministers open 52nd session in Baghdad as Iraq takes presidency
Foreign ministers from 55 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states opened their 52nd Council in Baghdad on 17 October, with Iraq taking the rotating presidency from Türkiye and Gaza topping the agenda.
The 52nd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation opened on Saturday 17 October 2026 in Baghdad, bringing together delegations from 55 member states. Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Hassanein Kamil confirmed the meeting began after all delegations had arrived in the capital. Iraq assumes the OIC's rotating one-year presidency from Türkiye during the two-day session, held under the theme 'Dialogue and Solidarity: Two Essential Pillars for Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development'. The agenda centres on Israel's continuing military operations in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as conflicts in Sudan and Afghanistan, counterterrorism, UN reform, Islamophobia and the situation of Muslim communities in non-member countries. Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended. The meeting is expected to close with the adoption of the Baghdad Declaration. It is Iraq's highest-profile diplomatic hosting event in years and comes as regional diplomacy focuses on consolidating a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
