The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) will hold its second summit within five months today in Istanbul at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan in his capacity as the president of the 13th Islamic summit.
The summit will discuss the latest serious developments in Palestine, notably the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the Israeli massacre of unarmed civilians in Gaza Strip. Some 62 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 injured on Monday after being attacked by Israeli soldiers who used live bullets during peaceful protests on the Gaza Strip border over the transfer of the US embassy and the 70th anniversary of Nakba.
As it has always been at the forefront of advocates of the Palestinian people and their just cause, Qatar was one of the first countries to receive an invitation to participate in Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) summit and was consulted in that regard.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held via telephone a conversation with President Erdogan, during which the president invited the Amir to participate in the extraordinary Islamic summit, and the Amir accepted the invitation.
In addition, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani held via telephone a conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
During the telephone conversation, the two sides discussed the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the arrangements for the emergency Islamic summit.
Qatar and Turkey also reiterated the need to co-ordinate efforts between the two countries on the crisis in order to stop the Israeli attacks and protect the Palestinian people.
They also stressed that the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem will threaten the region’s stability and international peace and security.
Meanwhile, the cabinet condemned during its weekly meeting the brutal massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, renewing its call to the Security Council to intervene urgently and decisively to protect the Palestinian people from the Israeli aggression and recognise their legitimate national rights, foremost of which is the right to establish their independent state based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
Additionally, Qatar has expressed in the strongest terms its condemnation and denunciation of the brutal massacre and systematic killing committed by the Israeli occupation forces against unarmed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
HE the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lulwa al-Khater, said that Qatar calls on all international and regional powers that have a voice in Israel to act immediately to stop the brutal killing machine. Qatar also calls upon the Security Council and international community to shoulder their responsibilities, she added.
On the talks during the extraordinary summit, the Turkish president said the organisation will send a strong message to the world, adding that his country will never accept the US decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
He noted that such a step showed that Washington cannot be a mediator in the peace process due to its bias in favour of Israel.
For his part, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he hopes it will send a very strong message on the Palestinians issue, stressing the need to immediately end the brutality in Palestine.
As for the UN’s handling of the Israeli massacre, Yildirim said he has never seen the international organisation “so helpless.”
Yildirim added that such events clearly demonstrate the importance of the calls for restructuring the United Nations, changing the permanent membership of the Security Council and the use of veto power, noting that the world is bigger than the five permanent members.
Turkish Presidential Spokesperson ambassador Ibrahim Kalin said the Islamic summit will discuss the measures to be taken by Islamic states to defend the Palestinian and Jerusalem causes through co-operation and solidarity with Palestine and its people.
“The summit will focus on the attitude and actions to be taken by Muslim countries in solidarity and co-operation with the Palestinian State and its people in order to defend the causes of Palestine and Jerusalem,” Kalin said.
In a written statement yesterday, Kalin said the occupation of Israel and the Palestinian issue are not the problems for the Muslim countries alone but “common problems for everyone who believes in law and justice”.
OIC representative to Palestine ambassador Ahmed al-Ruwaidi said the summit is important as it is taking place in light of the latest developments which occurred Gaza on Monday.
Palestinian envoy to OIC Maher al-Karaki said the summit will discuss the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem and the Israeli massacre against the Palestinians in the Gaza strip.
He expected that the summit will reaffirm the rejection of the decision to relocate the US embassy as it is a dangerous violation to international laws and Security Council resolutions.
He also expected that the summit will reaffirm its rejection of any attempt to change the current legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem, and it will call on all its member-states to mobilise support for the holy city.
Al-Karaki also expected that the summit will call on the Security Council and international community to act immediately to provide protection to the Palestinian people.
OIC Council of Foreign Ministers issued a condemnation statement against the relocation of the US embassy. It rejected and condemned in the strongest terms the “illegal decision by the US administration and saying it considers this action as an attack on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people, which undermines the standing of the United Nations and rule of international law and thus represents an affront to international peace and security.”
The statement added that such “deplorable action” by the US administration constitutes a “clear violation of all existing international laws” pertaining to the status of Jerusalem and Palestine, particularly the UN Security Council resolutions.
The specific status of Jerusalem is central to OIC, to the Muslim nation, and other religions, which “therefore requires the protection and preservation of its unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions, as foreseen in relevant UN resolutions.
Hence, the final status of Al Quds Al Sharif should and must be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant UN Resolutions.”
“The OIC determines that it will continue its efforts to defend the two-state solution and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood by creating positive and irreversible political and legal realities, and lead efforts to formulate a multilateral and credible approach to end the conflict on the basis of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,” the statement said.
The organisation said it decided to “pursue all available legal, political, and legislative avenues at the national and international levels to confront and stop the Israeli colonial settlement regime in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and adopt actions to ensure that companies and other actors that choose to benefit from the Israeli colonial regime are deprived of the opportunity of accessing OIC markets.”
“OIC calls upon all states to refrain from supporting the US decision and stresses that it shall apply political and economic restrictions to countries, officials, parliaments, companies, or individuals who recognise the annexation of Al Quds by Israel, the occupying power, or deal with any measures related to consecration of Israeli colonisation of occupied Palestinian territory,” the statement added.
Today’s Istanbul OIC summit would be the second within a few months. OIC member-states held an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul on December 13 following US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
The summit issued a declaration in which leaders of Muslim countries reiterated their rejection of the US president’s decision and described it as null and void from the standpoint of conscience, justice and history, in the same manner as Israel’s decision to annex Jerusalem as well as its measures and procedures there that were and will never be acceptable.
The declaration called on the whole world to recognise East Jerusalem as an occupied capital of the State of Palestine.
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