Istanbul- During the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit activities, the organization condemned Iranian interference in internal affairs of countries like Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Somalia. The organization also denounced Iran’s continuous backing for terrorism.
The final announcement by the organization addressed the Lebanon-based Hezbollah for the conduct of terrorist activities in Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen; In addition to supporting terror cells and groups that aim at disturbing the peace of OIC member countries.
The summit clarified the importance of building up affairs shared by Arab countries and Iran based on the morals of sustaining fellowship with neighboring countries.
Among the many announcements made was the one reassuring the summit’s commitment to not intervene in the internal affairs of any country, respecting each nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as to solve all issues in a nonviolent approach according to both OIC and U.N. charters fitting international law.
The convention’s final announcement delivered Iran four articles which condemn its intervention in other countries’ affairs and a fifth article addressing its terrorist activities on supporting Hezbollah. Iran objected later on, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani opted to sit out for the final session of the convention.
The summit leader and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a shared press conference with OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani, which followed the convention’s final session, confirmed that unity and solidarity are the most important factors needed to overcome the difficult times the Islamic world is experiencing. Erdogan said that the “brotherhood”, what he dubbed the relationship shared among OIC member countries, portrayed during the summit had sent out strong messages to all Muslims and humanity in whole.
Erdogan stressed that the Islamic world currently suffers from three primary issues, which are terrorism, ethnic conflicts and sectarian disputes.
The Istanbul declaration comprised 218 items receiving collective OIC consensus, except for items concerning Iran and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. As the convention came to an end, the declaration confirmed the pivotal status the Palestine question and holy Jerusalem occupy in the Muslim world, in addition to supporting the rights of the people in Palestine for restoring their national rights which are undisputable.
The announcement emphasized the necessity of arriving to political solutions to resolve internal crises in several countries like Iraq, Syria and Yemen. On the other hand, the convention welcomed the Saudi Arabian initiative on establishing a program holding the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s name which attends civil heritage.