Azerbaijan seeks stronger ties with brotherly Islamic countries
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan is highly interested in enhancement of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) proactive policy and looks forward to strengthening its relations with the brotherly Islamic countries.
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov announced about this as he addressed an extraordinary session of Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on January 19 aimed at discussion of the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, as well as the situation of the more than 120,000 displaced and refugee Muslims within Myanmar.
The minister further stated that President Ilham Aliyev signed the declaration on announcing Year of 2017 as a ‘Year of Islamic Solidarity’.
"The general overview of the current situation in a number of Muslim countries remains a deep concern for all of us. This shows a necessity for reaffirming our commitment to Islamic solidarity and increasing support to those in need. We must remain consistent in defending the just cause of our member states and to protect the rights of Muslim brothers and sisters in non-Muslim countries," he said.
To the deepest regret, the situation in Rohingya continues to be a serious challenge for the Islamic Ummah and requires a unified stand of the OIC member states, according to the minister.
“We should not remain indifferent to the grave violence and humanitarian crisis that forced thousands of Muslims flee their homes in the Rakhine state,” he stressed.
Mammadyarov went on to say that Azerbaijan, which has faced longstanding problem of refugees and internally displaced persons, as a result of the military aggression of Armenia with notorious facts of occupation and ethnic cleansing on the part of the country, has full understanding of those who suffered from injustice and sufferings.
"Therefore, we extremely condemn the acts of repression as killing and arrest of Rohingya civilians, destruction of their homes and religious buildings and call upon the leadership of Myanmar to eliminate this humanitarian crisis and restore stability and dignity in the Muslim populated part of Myanmar,” he said.
The minister also touched upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
saying that this is very painful issue for Azerbaijan.
“I would like to reiterate Azerbaijan’s full support to the
brotherly people of Palestine in their struggle for achieving
peace, stability and establishment of an independent State.
Azerbaijan stands for the two-state solution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is the only guarantee of
achieving the long-awaited, comprehensive, lasting and just peace,
security and sustainable development in this sacred land. We highly
commend the work done by the OIC in supporting the Palestinian
people and serving the Palestinian cause,” he said.
The ministerial meeting was held against the backdrop of ongoing concerns of the OIC General Secretariat for the situation of the Rohingya Muslims and the continuing violence as well as the stance of the Myanmar government on the situation in Rakhine state.
The foreign ministers of the OIC Contact Group on Rohingya Muslims earlier held their meeting on the sideline of the Council of Foreign Ministers session held in Tashkent last October.
The meeting called again on the Government of Myanmar to restore the citizenship of the Rohingya, which had been revoked under the 1982 citizenship law.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:
@amina_nazarli
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