Turkey joins ICG to help Philippine gov't resume peace talks with MILF
Turkey joins ICG to help Philippine gov't resume peace talks with MILF
15:58, November 26, 2009 
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The Turkish Government has accepted the Philippine invitation to take part in the International Contact Group (ICG), a body that is being set up to break the deadlock in the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
In a letter addressed to Philippine Ambassador Rafael Seguis, chairman of the government's peace panel for talks with the MILF, and Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace panel, Turkish Ambassador to the Philippines Adnan Basaga confirmed his government's participation in the ICG.
"This is indeed a positive step as it clears the way towards the actual resumption of the formal peace talks in the first week of December," Seguis said in a statement issued Thursday.
In a historic agreement, both parties agreed to form the ICG during their talks held in Kuala Lumpur last Sept. 15. The creation of the ICG is among the three confidence-building measures identified by both parties as precondition to the peace talks.
The ICG, composed of government and non-government organizations, aims to restore the mutual trust between the Philippine government and the MILF and pave the way for the revival of negotiations that came to a standstill a year ago following the failed signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court.
Seguis welcomes this development. He is hoping that the other countries they invited - United Kingdom, Japan and Saudi Arabia - will agree to join the ICG.
Turkey is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Peace Committee of the Southern Philippines, and has been supporting the peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF.
Source: Xinhua
In a letter addressed to Philippine Ambassador Rafael Seguis, chairman of the government's peace panel for talks with the MILF, and Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace panel, Turkish Ambassador to the Philippines Adnan Basaga confirmed his government's participation in the ICG.
"This is indeed a positive step as it clears the way towards the actual resumption of the formal peace talks in the first week of December," Seguis said in a statement issued Thursday.
In a historic agreement, both parties agreed to form the ICG during their talks held in Kuala Lumpur last Sept. 15. The creation of the ICG is among the three confidence-building measures identified by both parties as precondition to the peace talks.
The ICG, composed of government and non-government organizations, aims to restore the mutual trust between the Philippine government and the MILF and pave the way for the revival of negotiations that came to a standstill a year ago following the failed signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court.
Seguis welcomes this development. He is hoping that the other countries they invited - United Kingdom, Japan and Saudi Arabia - will agree to join the ICG.
Turkey is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Peace Committee of the Southern Philippines, and has been supporting the peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF.
Source: Xinhua
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