18 May, 2018

Istanbul

Dear President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Dear Secretary General,

Excellencies,

Participants of the Summit!

First of all, let me underline that this Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Heads of State and Government, organized by the initiative of President of Türkiye, is yet another example of Türkiye’s contribution to the Islamic solidarity and the cause of justice.

Killing of more than 60 and injuring of 2000 Palestinians is beyond comprehension. We, Member States and OIC, should spare no effort to condemn and stop this bloodshed. Azerbaijan, as always, remains ready to contribute to this end and we reaffirm our full solidarity and support for the just and comprehensive solution of the Palestinian issue. The peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be based on the two-state principle with East Jerusalem being the capital of the State of Palestine.

The decision of the President of the United States of America to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer there the US embassy raised concerns as it runs counter to international law and the UN Security Council resolution №478 (1980).

As became evident despite multiple warnings, this act deteriorated the prospects for achieving a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and, moreover, had all the dangerous implications.

Excellencies,

In 2013, with the aim of helping the State of Palestine, Azerbaijan hosted a constituent conference of the Islamic Financial Safety Network and a donor conference in support of the development of the city of Jerusalem.

In 2017, the Year of Islamic solidarity in Azerbaijan, we hosted the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem in Baku under the auspices of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and with the support of the OIC, which has been concluded with the introduction of a communique on behalf of its organizers condemning the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and restrictions on worshippers therein.

As You know, last month, in the capacity of the Non Alignment Movement (NAM) Troika, Azerbaijan hosted the 18th Mid-term Ministerial Meeting of the NAM, titled “Promotion International Peace and Security for Sustainable Development”. Within the framework of this event the meeting of NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine was organized. In the Final Baku Declaration were reiterated urgent calls for serious, collective efforts to bring a complete end to the violations.

Azerbaijan, upon the request of the Palestinian authorities, is also planning to assist in the organization of the Annual Meeting of the State of Palestine Ambassadors accredited in the Asian countries by the end of 2018.

Excellencies,

As representative of Azerbaijan, I can’t escape this opportunity to express gratitude of my country to the OIC and its member-states for their full support of Azerbaijan in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and decisions by number of international organizations, including the OIC, for more than 25 years, Armenia has been holding 20 per cent of our lands under illegal military occupation with dire humanitarian consequences for the indigenous Muslim population and the Islamic culture.

Thank you.