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Azerbaijan-OIC
As an integral part of the Islamic
world with its historical past,
religious, cultural and spiritual
values, Azerbaijan's accession to
the Organization of the Islamic
Conference on December 1991 opened
up new horizons in international
arena for Azerbaijan. Through this,
Azerbaijan received consistent
support from OIC and its member
states. If, first, the General
Secretariat of OIC made statements
on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
supporting the position of
Azerbaijan, subsequently the OIC
conferences adopted weighty
resolutions on Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict. In these resolutions the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is
defined unambiguously as aggression
of Armenia against the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
The OIC Foreign Ministers' XXI
Karachi Conference of 1993, XXII
Casablanca Conference of 1994,
Canary Conference XXIII of 1995
adopted resolutions on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. At the
OIC Foreign Ministers' XXIV Jakarta
conference of 1996 the title of
appropriate resolution was changed
and called "On the aggression of the
Republic of Armenia against the
Republic of Azerbaijan". Since that,
at the all OIC Foreign Ministers'
Conferences the title of these
resolutions remained unchanged. It
should be noted that the OIC Heads
of States and Governments Teheran
Conference VIII of 1997, Doha
Conference IX of 2000, and Putrajaya
(Malaysian city) Conference X of
2003 adopted resolutions of the same
title.
The latest resolutions, distinctly
from the previous ones, have been
improved with new paragraphs adding:
"Urges all States to refrain from
providing any supplies of military
arms and equipment to Armenia, which
can encourage the aggressor to
escalate the conflict and to
continue the occupation of the
Azerbaijani territories; The
territory of Member States should
not be used for transit of such
supplies; Calls upon Member States,
as well as other members of the
international community, to use such
effective political and economic
measures as required in order to put
an end to Armenian aggression and to
occupation of the Azerbaijani
territories; Considers, that
Azerbaijan has the right for
appropriate compensation with regard
to damages it suffered, and puts the
responsibility for the adequate
compensation of these damages on
Armenia; Requests the Secretary
General to follow up the
implementation of this resolution
and to report thereon to the
Eleventh Session of the Islamic
Summit Conference.
Resolution adopted by the Putrajaya
Conference X of the OIC Head of
State and Government clearly
illustrates the present level of
Azerbaijan-OIC relations. Along with
above-mentioned political
resolution, the Conference adopted a
resolution "On providing economic
aid to the Republic of Azerbaijan".
The resolution condemns occupation
by Armenia of the Nagorno-Karabakh
and other regions of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, and actions accompanied
by forceful displacement about one
million people; expresses full
solidarity with the Government and
people of Azerbaijan in a difficult
and crisis period of the countries'
history; and addresses the OIC
member states, Islamic institutions,
as well as international
organizations to provide necessary
economic, financial, and
humanitarian assistance with a view
to ease the suffering of the
Azerbaijan people.
The Conference also adopted the
third document dealing with our
country - "On Elimination and
destruction of Islamic historical
and cultural monuments in the
occupied territories of the Republic
of Azerbaijan as a result of
Armenian aggression". Consisting of
wide and comprehensive preamble and
7 paragraphs, the resolution aims at
protection of Azerbaijan's cultural
and historical monuments in the
occupied territories.
Considering the appropriate report
of the OIC Secretary General on this
issue, the Conference condemned
atrocities of the Armenian
aggressors aimed at full elimination
of the Islamic civilization in the
occupied territories of the Republic
of Azerbaijan, demanded
unconditional and obligatory
fulfillment by Armenia of the UN SC
resolutions (822, 853, 874, and
884), and requested the OIC
Secretary General to inform the UN,
OSCE, and other international
organizations about the position of
the OIC member states on this issue.
Adoption of resolutions without
discussions, corrections and
revision as drafted by the
Government of Azerbaijan, once more
confirms that the Islamic world is
closely acquainted with our problems
and consistently supports us. In its
turn, this is a result of a
well-designed foreign policy.
Participation of President Heydar
Aliyev at the OIC VII Casablanca
Conference of 1994 and VIII Teheran
Conference of 1997, his speeches and
meetings echoed in the Islamic
world. The OIC Ex-secretary General
Azzeddine Laraki's answer to the
question of journalist after the
meeting with the Azerbaijan
President in the days of Teheran
Conference is the obvious proof: "I
am proud of meeting with the
President of Azerbaijan Heydar
Aliyev and listening to his
thoughts. I am proud that he highly
praised the activity of our
organization. We will do our best
for making relations of our
organization with Azerbaijan
classier... I assured Mr. President
that the OIC always was on the side
of Azerbaijan and it will be so in
the future. I also assured Mr.
President that liberation of
Azerbaijan's occupied territories is
our unchanging position. I consider
that close cooperation of Azerbaijan
with the OIC shows President Heydar
Aliyev's wisdom".
It should be noted, that the OIC
resolutions have significance for
Azerbaijan, beyond political. Great
amount of humanitarian, technical
and other assistance provided to
Azerbaijan is enshrined in documents
adopted at the OIC Conferences.
Since 1994 Islamic Development Bank
(IDB) every year sends 2500 pieces
(recently this figure doubled) of
sacrificial sheep and covers their
transportation expenses to
Azerbaijan. Moreover, IDB allotted
$500,000for humanitarian assistance
to refugees, and $1 mln. for
machines and equipment to create
jobs.
In order to prepare technical and
economic basis of social development
projects in Azerbaijan, IDB provided
non-repayable grant of $1.424 mln.
The total sum of privileged credit
to Azerbaijan provided by IDB is
more than $74 mln.
The humanitarian enterprises of
Saudi Arabia, Assistance Program
after King Fahd, assistance from
some humanitarian organizations and
foundations of the Gulf States' is
carried out under the
above-mentioned documents. |
