OIC reps voice support for Azerbaijan efforts to rebuild Karabakh [PHOTO/VIDEO]

6 April 2021 15:43 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vafa Ismayilova

Visiting officials from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have expressed their support for Azerbaijan's efforts to rehabilitate Karabakh liberated from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war in 2020.

The permanent representatives of the OIC Contact Group on Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan have been on a visit to Azerbaijan since April 5. The visit is aimed at getting acquainted with the consequences of Armenia's war crimes in Aghdam region and Ganja city.

Permanent representative of OIC delegation Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said that OIC has all along offered political support to Azerbaijan in its struggle against Armenia.

“We have seen the devastation caused by the Armenian aggression,” he said.

He made the remarks in an interview with journalists on April 6 during his fact-finding visit to Aghdam region.

Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said that the members of the contact group are going to call on the next meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), the OIC countries to participate in the reconstruction and the economic well-being of this territory.

The official added that along with OIC, Pakistan also has always offered its unconditional support to Azerbaijan in this aggression, also during the 44-day war.

“As a Pakistani, as a member of the delegation, I congratulate you on the successes that you have accomplished in the war. We hope that now the peace has been restored and...and rehabilitation will take place,” he added.

OIC Assistant Secretary-General Ahmad Kawesa Sengendo once again reiterated the support of all OIC member states for Azerbaijan.

“The OIC supports Azerbaijan's right to liberate its territories. Our organization demonstrates a decisive position on this issue," he said.

Another OIC Assistance Secretary-General Ahmad Ssenyomo stressed that OIC clearly stands for Azerbaijan’s right to liberate lands through international resolutions.

He noted that OIC member states supported the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from Armenian aggression.

Also, OIC fully supports and calls for the reconstruction of liberated lands.

The OIC delegation members prayed at Aghdam's Juma mosque during their visit to the region.

The delegation members also visited the Ibrahim Khalil Khan palace. They were informed that the descendants of the khan were buried there. The mausoleums were built over their graves. During the occupation, the Armenians ravaged this territory and kept pigs there. There was a stadium in the vicinity of the palace where the famous "Garabagh" Aghdam football club was based.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed after Armenia launched large-scale attacks on Azerbaijani forces and civilians on September 27.

The trilateral peace deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the 30-year-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the 1990s.

On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement is set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.