Baku, Azerbaijan, May 29
Trend:
The Republic of Azerbaijan has always called for fight against defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.
Mammadyarov made this statement at the 42nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Since our last meeting we have been witnessed the sorrowful and tragic events, such as the Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan, Boko Haram violence in Nigeria, violent killings in Paris and atrocities committed by ISIS and the latest one on mosque in Saudi Arabia," Mammadyarov said. "To the deepest regret, executors of these heinous acts distort religion to serve their barbaric causes. As a result, all these actions lead to the misunderstanding of Islam religion in some parts of the world."
Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.
He said that the situation in Palestine and the question of Al-Quds Al-Sharif require a unified stand of the international community.
"We highly appreciate the valuable work of the OIC Secretary General and his staff to consolidate our efforts and organize visits of the OIC Ministerial Contact Group aimed to provide all necessary assistance to the people of Palestine," he said. "The Government of Azerbaijan stands for the two-state solution."
"Azerbaijan reiterates its sincere gratitude to the Islamic Ummah, and OIC member states and OIC Secretariat for their long standing position in condemnation of the Armenian aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani territories with notorious ethnic cleansing on the seized lands," he said. "We highly appreciate OIC Member States demand for immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from all our occupied territories, as it is urged by the relevant resolutions and decisions of UN Security Council, OIC and other international organizations."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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