The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) believes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be resolved peacefully, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told.
“We believe eventually this problem will be resolved peacefully, because it is the right of the Azerbaijani people,” said Ihsanoglu, who is attending the Baku conference on dialogue among civilizations. “All the OIC’s resolutions were adopted in this direction.”
Resolutions on the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan were adopted at the 36th meeting of foreign ministers of the OIC member states in Damascus. The resolutions envisage providing economic assistance to Azerbaijan in connection with the Armenian aggression. The resolutions have condemned the destruction of Islamic cultural and historical monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territory by Armenians.
Ihsanoglu named the destruction of mosques and the burning of forests by the Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as great mistake.
“We do not support these actions and do not believe that we should answer by the same methods [the actions of Armenia], because our faith forbids us to it,” he added.
The Islamic community – Ummah, according to him, “throughout history, opened the doors to all religions, but unfortunately Armenians have destroyed mosques and historical monuments and even resorted to burning of forests during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
“As its firm and principled position, the OIC has condemned the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and would continue its solidarity with Azerbaijan on the conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh.” Ihsanoglu said in an exclusive interview with Trend News earlier.
The OIC has also supported all efforts of Azerbaijan for a just and negotiated peaceful settlement of the conflict and rejected Armenian activities in the occupied territories, he added.
The OIC, which is the second largest organization in the world after the U.N, said “now, for a peaceful settlement of this dispute, we should stick to the international law and regulations. International laws as well as those resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council on this conflict have clearly reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and also the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory.”
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