State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has held a bilateral meeting with Mevlut Cavusoglu, foreign minister of Turkey, on the sidelines of the D-8 Council of Ministers in Istanbul.
During the meeting on Thursday, both ministers discussed various issues of mutual interests and the latest on the crisis and humanitarian disaster surrounding the forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals – the Rohingya who have taken shelter in Bangladesh.
They also discussed ways to address the problem from both political and humanitarian perspectives.
The ministers expressed identical views on the ways to bring a lasting solution, which is sustainable return and repatriation of the Rohingya to their original abodes in Rakhine state with rights including Myanmar citizenship and fundamental freedoms.
Appreciating the leadership role of the Bangladesh government, the Turkish foreign minister reaffirmed their strong commitment to mobilise political support, as well as humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya.
He also discussed content and possible sectors in which Turkish humanitarian assistance could be delivered to the refugees.
While appreciating Bangladesh’s admirable leadership for maintaining an open door policy to this ethnic community, Cavusoglu assured Shahriar of doing everything possible to support the latter’s government.
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Shahriar Alam also held separate bilateral meetings with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato' Sri Anifah Aman.
The Rohingya crisis and D-8 cooperation figured prominently during these meetings, while both Marsudi and Aman expressed their support to Bangladesh. They also discussed issues of mutual interests.
Earlier in the morning, the state minister participated in the D-8 Council of Ministers held prior to the 9th D-8 Summit scheduled for Friday.
In his statement there, Shahriar conveyed good wishes of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the organisation she co-founded as it enters into a new phase of action of concrete projects and programmes.
The council was also attended by the ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Turkey and heads of delegation of other countries.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
