Karabakh Conflict Discussed at OIC Summit in Mecca

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Organization of Islamic Conference summit started yesterday in Mecca. The third special summit is considered to be a very important move towards the perfection of the IOC organizational structure and raising of its role in the international political arena. OIC Secretary General Ekmeledinn Ihsanoglu (Turkey) stressed "the necessity of resolute steps" for the elimination of problems of the Muslim world and Muslim states and peoples. In his words, such

steps can promote the fair settlement of the Palestinian problem as well as establishment of peace in Iraq. Among other pressing issues he pointed out to the Kashmir, Cypriot, Nagorno Karabakh and Chechen problems. Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is presiding over the OIC summit, proposed to transform the OIC into a new organization and form a "strong union of Muslim states."



Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is in Mecca for the participation in the summit, held a number of meetings with the leaders of some states including Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Yesterday I. Aliyev addressed the summit focusing at the problems of the Muslim world, especially the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He brought the core of the problem to the notion of the summit participants and voiced satisfaction with the support the OIC renders

to Azerbaijan. He also assessed "the reflection of the OIC position on the Karabakh issue in the final documents of the summit as a fact worthy of approval." At the same time he noted the importance of activating efforts for the "liberation of the seized Azeri territories and the soonest settlement of the conflict." To note, the Organization of Islamic Conference was formed in 1969 and presently comprises 57 member-states, reported 525 newspaper.