Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan condemned at PUIC session
By Sara Rajabova
A delegation of Azerbaijani parliamentarians led by Speaker Ogtay Asadov represented the country at 10th session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held in Istanbul.
Iran passed the presidency at PUIC Conference to Turkey, AzerTag state news agency reported.
The conference was addressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker Asadov, Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT) Cemil Cicek, the Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and others.
Asadov highlighted the positive results of the cultural, inter-civilizations and inter-religions dialogue policy of Azerbaijan, delivered the views of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Islam as a religion of peace, friendship and solidarity. Asadov reminded that Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan was therefore announced the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2009 and that Nakhchivan has been elected the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2018.
He thanked the OIC member states for support in settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the resolutions on unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani land, as well as the decisions adopted related to the Khojali genocide.
Asadov informed the PUIC session participants on quick economic development of Azerbaijan, the achievements gained in humanitarian sphere, the preparatory works underway for Baku-2015 European Games and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games due in 2017 in Azerbaijan.
Cicek, who is the new Chairman of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in turn, spoke of the latest socio-political tensions and armed conflicts in some Islamic countries, noting that these conflicts become serious threats for the entire world.
He resolutely condemned the occupation policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan, stating that his country would every time support Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.
Turkey set Armenia's withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan as a precondition for establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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