33RD SESSION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE OF FMS ADOPTS BAKU DECELERATION

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 21 2006

The 33rd Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (June
19-21) in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, was over today (APA). The
session adopted 27-item Baku Deceleration:

"The challenges facing the humanity in the 21st century, in particular
recent threats confronting Islam compel us to further unite around
our values and to display solidarity, and we reiterate our devotion
to the noble ideas of humanism, racial and religious tolerance.

We support the continuation of reforms in the economic, social
and cultural areas, as well as in the spheres of democratization,
transparency and strengthening the role of civil society in the
OIC member states and consider it important to protect cultural,
religious and racial diversity. The diversity must not be a source
of conflict but rather a source of mutual enrichment and dialogue
among religions and civilizations.

We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,
express deep sympathy with and support for the countries that feel
victims to terrorist attacks, and denounce as groundless any attempts
to link terrorism with any religion, culture ands people as this
global scourge does not have any religious or national affiliation,"
the declaration reads.

It was also stated in the document that current new global threats
and challenges demand strengthening of international cooperation.

"In this connection, in order to jointly fight against international
terrorism, transnational crimes, illicit weapons and drug trafficking
and illegal migration in a more active way we propose to establish
the Conference of Heads of Law-Enforcement Agencies of OIC member
states and welcome the offer of Azerbaijan to host the first meeting
at the level of experts in Baku," the Declaration continues.

It is also stated in the Declaration that regarding the cooperation
programmes on exploitation and transportation of energy resources of
the OIC member states as an essential factor in the social and economic
development of the OIC states, it welcomes the commissioning of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which has taken place on the eve of
the session, as a result of the strategic cooperation in the region,
and look forward to speedy completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum
gas pipeline.

"We also note the importance of inter-regional transport corridors,
including the restoration of the Great Silk Road, which runs through
the OIC member states, and the East-West and North-South transport
corridors projects. We also welcome other regional initiatives,
including transportation of energy resources between Iran and
Kazakhstan, gas pipelines projects involving Afghanistan, India,
Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.

We welcome the establishment of the OIC Group in Vienna with the
purpose to discus issues of common interest for the OIC member
states. For the improvement of the process of political consultations
and decision making mechanisms in the OIC we consider it expedient
to establish permanent missions of the members states to the OIC
Headquarters.

We once again bring to the attention of international community our
demands for speedy peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict
which is a principal objective of our Organization.

We once again strongly condemn the aggression of the Republic of
Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan and urge immediate, complete
and unconditional withdrawal pf Armenian occupying forces from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan. We consider the illegal transfer of
Armenian population into the occupied Azerbaijani territories, illegal
economic activities and exploitation of natural resources in the
occupied territories detrimental to the peace process. We condemn the
continued destruction of Azerbaijani cultural and historical monuments
and demand from Armenia to compensate Azerbaijan in accordance with
international law for the material damage inflicted by Armenia. We
express our deep concern over recent massive fires in the occupied
territories and demand the occupying forces to take urgent measures
to prevent ecological disaster. We appeal to international community
to undertake all necessary measures for the peaceful resolution of
the conflict. We urge the OIC member states to support Azerbaijan
on the issue of full restoration of its territorial integrity and
sovereignty," the Declaration reads.

It is also stated that the OIC member states support the process of
settlement of the Cyprus problem and reaffirm their solidarity with
Muslim brothers and sisters in Northern Cyprus.

"We appeal to international community, including the OIC member
states to make all necessary efforts to put an end to isolation of
the Turkish Cypriots and to build cooperation in economic, cultural,
scientific, technological and other fields," the document continues.

It was also decided at the session to hold the 34th session of the
Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan.