The Governor of Istanbul, Mr. Vasip ?ahin, received the Secretary-General of the D-8, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari in his office in Istanbul on 31 January 2018.

The Governor expressed his pleasure for the visit and emphasized Turkey’s commitment to the D-8 Organization, being the founder of the Organization and host of the first Summit in 1997 in ?stanbul. He also assured the Secretary-General of his unflinching support to the Organization. The Governor also congratulated Ambassador Ku Jaafar on his appointment as the D-8 Secretary-General and wished him resounding success. He expressed hope that with a large young population in its Member States, the D-8  Organization would significantly contribute to the upliftment of life of its peoples. 

Ambassador Ku Jaafar thanked the Governor for his continous support to the D-8 Organization.  He assured that as the new Secretary-General, he would work towards taking the Organization to the next level. He also expressed his happiness to be in this historical and beautiful city of Istanbul. Ambassador Ku Jaafar recalled that the D-8 was established in the spirit of goodwill and high hopes for collaborative partnerships among the Member States. He added that the 9th Summit of the Organization, which took place in October 2017 in Istanbul, is of pivotal importance as it marks a new phase of policy coordination and implementation of projects. 

The two interlocutors exchanged views on several areas of D-8 cooperation and possible ways to strengthen collaboration.