The 10th summit of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC) opened in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani delivered a speech to the summit, in which he said, "I hope this meeting, held to seek solutions for the challenges of the 21st century, would be a successful effort to help bring stability and security to Muslim countries," IRNA reported.
He went on to say that creation of "fabricated" crises is meant to erode the energy of Islamic countries to divert Muslims' attention from their ideals, adding that fanning the flames of religious conflicts is just one of the ways to achieve this objective.
Larijani expressed hope that during Turkey's presidency over the union in the coming year, Muslims would make achievements more than ever before.
On the sidelines of the summit, Larijani met with his Turkish counterpart Cemil Cicek.
In the meeting, Larijani said the Israeli regime's intervention in Syria is a critical sign indicating they intend to put Islamic states under pressure through conspiracy, adding, "Islamic countries should display their unity against the Zionist regime's acts of aggression, as in their recent terrorist attack in Syria,'" referring to a Israeli helicopter strike on Sunday which hit a convoy of Lebanon's Hezbollah members in Syria near the Golan Heights.
The parliament speaker also referred to the "lasting" and "historical" relations between Iran and Turkey and said, "Iran and Turkey as two influential countries in the region have consistently had political, cultural and economic cooperation which should be promoted."
Touching on regional developments, the lawmaker said, "The current situation in Syria is to the benefit of no country, so efforts are needed to seek a political solution to the Syrian issue to help the country restore stability."
The Turkish parliament speaker, for his part, welcomed the Iranian parliamentary delegation and called for a firm response by Islamic countries to the recent blasphemous move by French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo to publish a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Cicek reiterated, "Turkey has always been standing by Iran and seeks expansion of relations between the two countries."
On the sidelines of the summit, the parliament speaker also held separate meetings with a number of parliamentary officials from Islamic countries.
