At the invitation of Mr. Muhittin Bal, President of Birlik Vakfi, Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, D-8 Secretary-General, visited the institution in Ankara on 26 February 2015 as part of external relations activities of the Organization.

Dr. Mousavi delivered a speech on the current development taking place within the D-8 Organization and also gave a background of D-8 and highlighted the role and engagement of the Organization as a prominent inter-governmental entity for economic development as envisaged by its leaders. He said that D-8 provided a good platform for promoting South-South Cooperation. He mentioned that D-8 had marked significant progress over the period of 17 years since its establishment in the areas such as industry, trade, transportation etc. and thus had contributed to the economic uplift of the people of the region. He also pointed to the fact that states are increasingly moving toward regional cooperation because of the commonalities they share and of effectiveness in cooperation. 

Later, the Secretary-General paid a guided tour around the establishment and was apprised of the works and activities pursued by Birlik Vakfi. He welcomed to explore any cooperative mechanism between the two institutions.