Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, visited ?anl?urfa, Turkey on 08 November 2016 at the invitation of Secretary-General of UCLG-MEWA and Mayor of ?anl?urfa to attend the UCLG-MEWA Council meeting. He was warmly received by the authorities and institutions. He met Mr. Güngör Azim Tuna, Governor of ?anl?urfa, Mr. Nihat Çiftçi, the Mayor of ?anl?urfa, and Prof. Ramazan Ta?alt?n, Rector of Harran University during the visit. He thanked the top representatives of the Turkish government and through them, the Government of the Republic of Turkey for their continuous support toward the D-8. Dr. Mousavi’s visit to ?anl?urfa, one of the important provinces with enormous agriculture potentials, took place as part of the Organization’s external relations to establish and nurture effective partnership with local authorities and institutions in Turkey. 

Dr. Mousavi gave exclusive interviews with the TRT channel and the Ihlas News Agency. He said that with the upcoming event of 9th Summit in 2017 in Turkey, the vital role of the Presidency will be rotated again to Turkey, which would be a turning point for D-8. He expressed that by the 9th Summit in 2017, D-8 would complete first phase of its life-cycle after the inception of the Organization in 1997. He noted that the upcoming Summit would be significant to reinvigorate the motion of the Organization and review the policies and strategies the D-8 would pursue in days ahead.