Turkish VP: OIC diaspora encompasses 60 million people

More than 60 million people belonging to Islamic countries form a strong diaspora network across different continents, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said at the 1st Muslim Diaspora Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Ankara, Report's Turkish bureau informs.

According to Yilmaz, Islamic countries should approach this issue with the same sense of brotherhood and responsibility: "The theme of our forum expresses efforts to transform this inherited understanding into new connections, new joint activities, and lasting solidarity under modern conditions. Today, more than 2 billion Muslims live worldwide, accounting for about one‑quarter of the global population. Looking at 2024 data, calculations across 38 countries show that this diaspora remitted nearly $200 billion to their countries of origin."

The Vice President emphasized that the entrepreneurial capacity, professional expertise, and international connections of diasporas turn this economic link into broader development opportunities: "Migrants are always dynamic, vibrant, innovative, and entrepreneurial. We must spread this energy across the entire Islamic world."