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Organization for Islamic Cooperation head decries Armenian FM’s statement on Karabakh's annexation

24 September 2019 13:58 (UTC+04:00)
Organization for Islamic Cooperation head decries Armenian FM’s statement on Karabakh's annexation

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and wants the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be resolved within the international law.

Recently, Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, Secretary General of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), expressed his deep concern over the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s controversial statement, in which he called for unification of Karabakh with Armenia.

Al-Othaimeen said that Pashinyan’s statement violates Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, demonstrates neglect of the international law and poses a threat to the regional peace and security.

Al-Othaimeen urged Yerevan to participate in the peaceful talks with Azerbaijan on the basis of the UN, OIC charters on the peaceful settlement of the conflict and on the Helsikni Final Act.

Armenian PM made his controversial statement in occupied Khankendi on August 5, 2019. Pashinyan’s call for annexation is similar to the calls made in the 1980s in Yerevan about cessation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan was among the first post-Soviet Muslim countries to become an OIC member. Faced with the information war waged by the Armenian Diaspora against Azerbaijan, there was an urgent need to step up efforts to form unbiased public opinion in the Muslim community with regards to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite numerous attempts by Armenians to change the OIC’s position on the conflict in favor of the Armenian side, Azerbaijan managed to form a balanced view of this conflict within the OIC framework.

Since Azerbaijan’s membership in the organization in 1991, the OIC has passed three fundamental resolutions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: “On the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan”, “On the destruction of historical and cultural monuments in Azerbaijan occupied as a result of Armenian aggression” and “ On the provision of economic assistance to Azerbaijan”.

The OIC member countries support Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and their position has remained unchanged since the war ended in 1994.

It’s worth mentioning that Armenia has intensified its anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took office. Earlier, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan threatened to take additional Azerbaijani territory in case a war breaks out. Toronyan made his controversial statement on March 29 as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Vienna for peace talks.

OIC recognizes Armenia as an aggressor, demands immediate and unconditional release of the occupied Azerbaijani territories. OIC was also actively working to support hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani IDPs who had been expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and other seven regions that are under Armenian occupation.

OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organization followed by the UN and has a membership of 57 countries spread across four continents.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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