President Erdogan highlights Trkiye's role in Islamic finance

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday highlighted Turkey's central role in trade and culture, saying the nation was expanding its influence in financial markets.

Addressing participants at the AlBaraka Islamic Finance Summit held at Istanbul's Lutfi Kirdar International Convention and Exhibition Center, Erdogan expressed his gratitude for hosting such a prestigious event.

Erdogan appreciated the AlBaraka Islamic Economy Forum, the Presidency Investment Office, the Istanbul Financial Center, the Turkey Wealth Fund, Ibn Haldun University and the Youth Forum of the Islamic cooperation for the organization of the summit.

President Erdogan said Turkey is hosting the AlBaraka summit for the first time. Reflecting on the significance of the summit, Erdogan paid tribute to the late Sheikh Salih Kamil, a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist whose initiatives laid the foundation for the Albaraka Summits.

“An important step for Turkey”

With more than 1,500 participants from 75 countries, this year's summit marks an important milestone for Turkey, strengthening its emerging role in global Islamic finance.

Erdogan expressed optimism that discussions around the summit's theme, “global perspectives, fundamental structures and needs of the Islamic economy,” will propel the growth of Islamic finance and participation sectors.

“Turkish bridge between East and West”

“Having historically served as a commercial and humanitarian bridge between East and West, Turkey has begun to play the same role between financial markets,” Erdogan said in his speech.

Referring to the Istanbul Financial Center, which opened last year, Erdogan said: “International investors confirm that Istanbul has great potential in Islamic finance. I believe the summit will help explore markets for services and products for the Islamic economy globally.

He also highlighted the extensive preparations undertaken for the summit, which included various panels covering historical perspectives, ethical principles, investment instruments, sustainable growth, etc. He congratulated the participants for their expected valuable contributions.

“Balance lost in the international system”

Erdogan said the global system is gradually losing its function: “In recent years, our world has gone through a radical process. We can see it very clearly. The balance of the international system has been lost. Chaos has become the color of the world. We say that the global system must be rethought with all its elements according to today's realities. »

Erdogan stressed that the global system has failed to respond to the atrocities committed by Israel over the past eight months and stressed that there is no mechanism in the world to put an end to this.

“The institutions that we have been told about for years have a great weakness. Currently, there is no institutional mechanism in the world to protect the oppressed, stop the oppressor and prevent oppression. As Turkey, we attract the “We have been paying attention to this situation for a long time, with the war between Russia and Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza, this has become inevitable,” he added.

Erdogan hoped the summit would deepen understanding of the ethical standards of Islamic finance and facilitate discovery of the global market for Islamic economy products and services.

He expressed confidence that the event would further elevate Istanbul's stature as a regional financial center on the global stage.

On the other hand, Yousef Hassan Khalawi, Secretary General of AlBaraka Forum, said that Turkey has great potential in Islamic finance.

“We know and believe that there is a demand in this area, but we need to develop more products tailored to people,” Khalawi added.

Source: AA