CAIRO: The leaders of Turkey and Iran were in Egypt on Thursday for a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, meeting for the first time since the ouster of Syria’s president Bashar Al-Assad. Turkey historically backed the opposition to Assad, while Iran supported his rule. The gathering of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, also known as the Developing-8, was being held against a backdrop of regional turmoil including the conflict in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon and unrest in Syria.

In a speech to the summit, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for reconciliation in Syria and the restoration of the country’s “territorial integrity and unity”. He also voiced hope for “the establishment of a Syria free of terrorism”, where “all religious sects and ethnic groups live side by side in peace”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also urged action to address the crises in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, saying it was a “religious, legal and human duty to prevent further harm” to those suffering in the conflict zones. Pezeshkian, who arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, is the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who visited in 2013.

Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, but diplomatic contacts have intensified since Cairo became a mediator in the war in Gaza. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Egypt in October, while his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty travelled to Tehran in July to attend Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Ahead of the summit, the Iranian top diplomat said he hoped it would “send a strong message to the world that the Zionist aggressions and violations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria” would end “immediately”.

At a special session on Gaza and Lebanon, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged the international community to adopt “a single standard of justice” and ensure the Zionist entity “is held accountable and punished for violations of international law” in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

On Thursday, ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Zionist entity’s strikes on Syrian military infrastructure were “violations” of the country’s sovereignty and called for them to cease. Established in 1997, the D-8 aims to foster cooperation among member states, spanning regions from Southeast Asia to Africa. The organization includes Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia as member states.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Thursday he had “agreed to strengthen relations” with Pakistan, a move likely to further test his country’s frosty relations with India. Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation but split in a brutal 1971 war, with Bangladesh then drawing closer to Pakistan’s archrival India.

But Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi have frayed after a student-led revolution in August toppled leader Sheikh Hasina, who had the backing of India and now lives there in exile. Yunus, who met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the sidelines of the conference in Egypt, said he wanted to resolve outstanding grievances from Dhaka’s 1971 bloody separation from Islamabad.

“The issues have kept coming again and again,” Yunus told Sharif, according to a statement from his office. “Let’s settle those issues for us to move forward.” Sharif said he had a “warm and cordial exchange” with Yunus. “Together, we reaffirmed our commitment to deepen bilateral and multilateral collaboration,” he said on social media platform X.

Both men “agreed to strengthen relations between the two countries through increased trade, commerce, and exchange of sports and cultural delegations” according to a statement from Yunus’ office. In November, the first cargo ship in decades to sail directly from Pakistan to Bangladesh successfully unloaded its containers in the port of Chittagong.

Yunus said he was determined to revive the moribund eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) – largely stalled due to arguments between Islamabad and New Delhi. “This is a top priority,” Yunus told Sharif. “I want a summit of SAARC leaders even if it is only for a photo session, because that will carry a strong message”. — AFP