Most states in an Islamic summit on Friday denounced Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah for spreading "terrorism" and for destabilizing the national security of its member countries: Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Kuwait. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted the summit of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), comprised of 57 member states. Over 30 leaders attended the summit, including the Saudi king and Iranian president. OIC, however, did not officially blacklist Hezbollah or circulate its final communique when it condemned the Lebanese group. Hezbollah has long been a key ally to Iran, who are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The statement comes after Saudi King Salman made important trips to both Egypt and later Turkey to improve and consolidate the kingdom's ties with the two. King Salman visits to Ankara showed a visible improvement ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia since his inauguration as king in 2015. Salman Dosri, an analyst, told Al Arabiya News Channel that it is "first time" that the summit denounces an Iranian proxy of such sort. He said Turkey is further consolidating its ties with Saudi since both "share the same outlook on Syria."
