Muslim leaders unite in Turkey as regional conflicts continue

Saudi King Salman and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, both of whom are battling each other on numerous fronts in the region, are among the attendees.

The major summit is hosted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan who seeks to showcase his influence on the Muslim world at a time where widespread conflict and sectarianism rips through the region.

"I believe the greatest challenge we need to surmount is sectarianism. My religion is not that of Sunnis, of Shias. My religion is Islam," Erdogan said in his opening speech.

"We should be uniting. Out of the conflicts, the tyranny, only the Muslims suffer," he said, adding the summit meeting could be a "turning point" for the whole Islamic world.

Erdogan lashed out at Islamic State (IS) extremists who seized swathes of Syria and Boko Haram Islamist extremists in Nigeria as two "terrorist organisations that are serving the same evil purpose."

He said that the OIC had accepted a Turkish proposal to set up a multinational police coordination centre for Islamic states to fight militants, to be based in Istanbul.

"We need to establish an organisation to further strengthen cooperation in the fight against terror," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the two day summit was held at a time when "the Islamic world is experiencing many disputes within itself".

"Fratricidal conflict causes great pain. Sectarianism divides the ummah [Muslim community]," he told OIC foreign ministers on Tuesday.

Among the topics discussed was the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine – a unifying topic among Muslims of the world – as well as the support Saudi-led efforts to reinstate the internationally recognised government of Yemen.

Ankara suggests the purpose of the summit is to decrease the distance and narrow differences between the 1.7 billion Muslim population across the globe.